


The Gambler

by MooeyDooey



Category: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Genre: Dating as a competitive sport, Fluff and Humor, Happy Ending, M/M, No beta we get slammed in the face by a skateboard, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, fake dating but in a REALLY stupid way, friends to rivals to lovers, other characters will come in as cameos, thinking your romance in unrequited but its NOT, unsafe skating please wear a helmet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-22 23:14:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30046272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MooeyDooey/pseuds/MooeyDooey
Summary: Joe and Cherry run into a problem. Conspiracy theories have started to surface in some fan forums of "S" that the two of them are secretly dating one another.Both of them agree that the idea is absurd, but can't agree on which one of them would be the better boyfriend if they actually were dating. So they decide to have a competition, to see who can be the better romantic partner when pitted up against one another.
Relationships: Nanjo Kojiro | Joe/Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom
Comments: 42
Kudos: 257





	1. Prologue: The First Day of My Life

**Author's Note:**

> Does an ollie into gay skateboarding hell lets GO 
> 
> Welcome to my fanfic! This first chapter is a prologue, so it doesn't have a lot of what the main plot of this story is going to be, but it's still important because it sets up some themes that are going to be visited in later chapters~ 
> 
> Also side note, I started writing this story post episode 9.5! So if there's any inconsistencies between canon and this story in episode 10, 11, or 12, that's why. 
> 
> Timeline to help you all visualize this: First matchablossom meeting is when they are around 10, second matchablossom meeting around when they're 13. 
> 
> The rest of this fic will have them in present day as adults, with occasional flashbacks to their childhood and teenage shenanigans!

If you asked Kojiro Nanjo about his aspirations in life, what he desired, what he wanted, there were many answers he could give. 

He could say that he wanted to improve on his skating techniques. He could say that he wanted to get stronger, that he was pleased with his deltoids but thought that his triceps could use a bit more isolated progress. He could say that he wanted to expand his business, and that he had been considering hosting special events on the occasional evening to draw in new clients. 

While all of those aspirations would be truthful, none of them were truly what Kojiro wanted the most. 

Ever since he was a child, Kojiro wanted to be cool. 

He wanted to be the guy that other people looked up to. The sort of person who everyone wants to eat lunch with, who has to promise a group of hopeful students that he’ll hang out with them next time because he already said he’d be spending the afternoon with another crowd of classmates. The one who is always one of the first ones picked for team sports. 

He only ended up reaching that status when he was a fully grown adult. Through all the years of his childhood, he remained painfully average. 

He was never a social outcast, but he never managed to stand out from the crowd. Other students liked him, but they never were awed by him, or sought him out. 

And it wasn’t for lack of trying. As soon as Kojiro found out about a new trend, he’d devote himself to joining in on it. If a new type of sneaker was in style, he started saving his allowance for it. If all the other boys were cutting their hair a certain way, he’d show his mom and beg her to help him style it in the same fashion. 

And despite all of the effort, as soon as Kojiro managed to join in on the trend, everyone else had already moved on to something new. 

That was the reason he first picked up a skateboard. 

The idea came to him one afternoon in primary school. He was on his way home, when he passed by a park and saw a small gathering of high school boys skateboarding together. He stood on the other side of the chain link fence, eyes wide and fingers snared in the metal loops as he watched the boys fly past one another. Any time one of them pulled off a stunt, the others would whoop and holler, and clap each other on the back. 

They looked cool. Really cool. 

And Kojiro realized that none of his classmates skateboarded. 

The excitement he felt at that moment was overwhelming. He knew, without a doubt, that this was his chance to get ahead of the pack. There was no doubt that skateboarding was cool. And if he could learn how to do it before everyone else in his age group realized how cool it was, he’d be way ahead of the game while others were still trying to learn how to balance on a skateboard. 

He sprinted the rest of the way home so he could look at how much money he had saved up, and figure out how long it would take for him to get a skateboard of his own. 

The good news was that he had enough saved to afford a used board within the course of two weeks. 

The bad news was that skateboarding was a lot harder than he had imagined. 

Learning to balance on it and move around wasn’t the difficult part. He managed to get a good grasp on that within a few weeks. But Kojiro hadn’t gotten into the sport for transportation. Standing on a skateboard wasn’t cool. He wanted to be able to pull off the tricks he had seen those high school students doing. He looked up every video tutorial he could, read tips and hints online, sat by on park benches and watched local boarders when they were too engrossed in their activities to notice an observer. 

He spent hours on his own in abandoned alleys and parking lots, and time and time again it ended with him wiping out and eating pavement. 

It took a few months for him to hit a breaking point. 

It happened one early evening. His usual routine right after he finished dinner with his family. He’d thank his mom for the food, scoop up his skateboard, and run out to practice again. 

At the time he had managed to shakily learn some of the basic tricks, ollies and what technically counted as a kickflip. But before he felt ready to show off his efforts to his friends at school, he had decided he needed to learn how to do a rail grind. Pulling off something like that was the sort of thing that would drop everyone’s jaws. It might even get them cheering. Word would spread like wildfire throughout every class about his talents, and Kojiro would cement his status as the coolest guy in school. 

The biggest problem with this plan was the fact that failing an ollie or a kickflip meant you stumbled back onto the ground. At worst you could slam your ankle into the side of the board, or lose your balance and fall on your knees or butt before getting back up and trying again. 

Failing a rail grind meant crashing to the earth from at least 3 feet off the ground. 

Kojiro had just failed his 9th attempt of the day, slamming his elbow and hip into the pavement while his skateboard skidded away from him. 

The pain ringing through his body was bad enough on its own, even with his protective elbow pads. But then something worse happened. 

He heard the sound of snickering and laughing from somewhere behind him. 

He turned himself on the ground, looked back, and saw a group of older boys. They all had skateboards of their own, colorful shirts and flashy sneakers, the very image of what had initially inspired Kojiro to start skating in the first place. And they were all pointing in his direction, and openly laughing at his failure. 

“Isn’t it past your bed time, young man?” one of them said in a mocking authoritative tone, which made the group of them go from snickering to howling. 

“Hey, try pulling the strap on your helmet tighter! Wouldn’t want to get a concussion, would ya?” said another. 

Kojiro put a hand up to his helmet, staring back at the other boys. 

None of them had helmets on, or protective gear. 

Kojiro hadn’t even wanted to get the protective gear in the first place. But his mom had bought it for him, insisting he wear it once she realized his new hobby. 

Kojiro wasn’t a crybaby. But something about the pain still searing through the newly forming bruises on his hips and ribs, the multiple failures with no sign of progress on the horizon, and the sheer humiliation of being mocked by the people who he aspired to be like snapped something in him. He started to feel moisture welling up in his eyes, clenching his fists as he put every ounce of willpower into holding back the floodgates. 

He wanted to shout at them to shut up. He wanted to stand up for himself. He wanted to get up, show off the tricks he had already accomplished, and prove that he wasn’t a joke. 

Instead, he scrambled up, grabbed his skateboard, and ran as fast as his feet could take him. But not even the pounding of his feet on the ground, or the blood rushing through his ears, could drown out the final shouts of ‘Yeah, run home to mom!’ and the whoops of victory from the high schoolers he left behind. 

Kojiro ran, and ran, with no sense of direction, until he finally found a stretch of road with no one else on it. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath, gasping in and letting out shaky wheezes. 

He felt stupid, and weak. And now that the shock had passed, he started to feel angry at himself. 

The first thing he did was take off his helmet, and flung it furiously as far as he could away from him. The same followed with his elbow pads, his wrist guards, and his knee pads. His mom would surely be upset at him when he went home without them, but he didn’t care. At that moment, he hated all of that gear for reminding him of how fragile he was. How he was something that needed to be protected, coddled, how he wasn’t man enough to take a hit without something softening the blow for him. 

He wanted to punch something. He wanted to scream at someone, to prove he was better than what those boys were accusing him of. 

Instead, he sunk down onto the side of the road. He sat down, curled up until his face was buried in his knees, and hid while the tears he could no longer hold back finally came gushing out of his eyes. Crying on its own was humiliating enough, so he focused his efforts into being silent about it. 

He wasn’t planning on staying for long. He just needed to wait this out, and get his composure back together before he went back home. 

But just about a few minutes after he had sat down, he heard a new voice speak up in front of him. Not the same voices as the boys he had left behind. 

“Hey,” it said. 

Kojiro tensed up all over again. He did his best to keep his face hidden, wiped his eyes with the backs of his hands behind his knees, before he peeked out over them to see who had disrupted him. 

It was a boy. He seemed to be around the same age as Kojiro, with neatly combed pink hair and a bored looking expression on his face. As soon as the other boy realized he had Kojiro’s attention, he held out a hand with one of Kojiro’s abandoned knee pads in it. 

“You dropped this,” the boy said. 

Kojiro scowled, and uncurled himself. 

“No I didn’t!” he shouted, with a bit more force than he meant to. 

The other boy wasn’t taken aback, or intimidated. He merely frowned a bit more, pressing his eyebrows together. 

“Yes you did. I saw you,” he said informatively. 

Kojiro really didn’t know what to say in response to that. He had clearly been caught red handed, but he wanted nothing less at that moment than admitting to owning a full set of protective gear when cool guys definitely didn’t wear that. 

So after a few moments of desperate deliberation, he concocted his genius response. 

“Did not!” 

The other boy either had a strong sense of grace and kindness, or did not possess the energy to keep debating. Either way, he only stared at Kojiro inquisitively for a few moments longer before he shrugged and tossed the kneepad aside. 

“Do you live near here?” the boy asked suddenly, pivoting topics. 

Kojiro’s anger subsided for a moment, thrown off by the comment. He took a look around, trying to figure out where exactly he had ended up. 

He wasn’t quite sure, but knew the streets around town well enough to know that he would only need to wander a few blocks before he found a street he recognized. Either way, he didn’t want to look like even more of an idiot and admit he didn’t know where he was in relation to his home. 

“Yeah,” Kojiro said, and crossed his arms to give off the presence of someone with authority on the topic. “Why do you need to know?” 

Kojiro had looked away from the stranger, so did not see the boy’s response. It was so quiet, Kojiro almost thought that the other boy had walked away, until he caught something else being held out in his direction from the corner of his eye. 

Kojiro looked back, and saw the end of an umbrella, pointed down at his chest. 

“It’s going to rain soon,” the boy said, in the same bland and uninterested tone. 

And he was right. Kojiro hadn’t realized it, but he could already feel a few stray drops of rain starting to fall on his shoulders and his head. 

Kojiro looked back up to the boy’s face, confused. Then he looked around for any sign of a second umbrella, finding none. 

“... It’s fine, I live right down the street,” Kojiro said. 

“No you don’t.” 

“How do you know?!” Kojiro snapped, frustration flaring up again. 

“Because you’re a liar,” the boy responded. He moved the umbrella forward, poking Kojiro in the chest with it. 

“Am not!” said Kojiro, and grabbed the end of the offending umbrella so the other boy couldn’t move it forward again. 

The stranger didn’t respond. Instead, he just let go of his end of the umbrella, leaving Kojiro to fumble with it so it didn’t smack down onto the ground. 

He then turned to the side, and started to walk off down the road. 

Kojiro was too shocked to respond at first. He just sat on the ground with the umbrella in his arms, the gears in his head turning as he tried to catch up with the strange circumstances he found himself in. 

Finally, he struggled to his feet. 

“Hey! Wait!!” he shouted. The rain was starting to come down harder. It wouldn’t be long before it moved into a downpour. “Isn’t your mom going to be mad if you go home soaking wet with no umbrella?!” 

At this, the other boy stopped. He turned around, and smiled for the first time since their meeting began. It was a sly smile, the sort of mirth that reminded Kojiro of old folk tales of ancient fox trickers. 

“It’s fine. She gets mad at me no matter what I do,” he said. 

Without another word he turned around, and retreated once more. 

Under any other circumstance, Kojiro would have chased him down and shoved the umbrella back into his arms. He wasn’t the sort of person to put other people at an inconvenience for his own comfort or needs. 

But he was left frozen, watching the other boy move away down the abandoned road, until he disappeared around a corner. 

Once the rain started to come down in sheets, he finally opened the umbrella, and wandered in the opposite direction to find his way back home. 

* * *

Years after that encounter, Kojiro would sometimes think about the boy he met that day. 

Sometimes his mind would wander and he’d see flashes of a fox-like smile. He’d taste the scent of rain approaching in the distance, and look around for any sign of a school uniform and pink hair. 

He wondered if he would ever see that boy again. Wondered if he lived in the area, or if he had just been visiting. The only thing he knew for sure was that he had to be japanese, due to his lack of accent or difficulty speaking the language. 

Kojiro kept the umbrella. He never used it beyond that first time it was given to him. Something about using someone else’s property felt wrong to him, but it also felt wrong to throw it away. So it stayed in his room, in the back of his closet, occasionally reminding him of the surreal encounter. 

Kojiro continued school, and continued skateboarding. He eventually got a hold of more intermediate tricks through practice, and just as he envisioned, was praised and celebrated when he finally got good enough to show off in front of his friends and classmates. 

Unfortunately, just like every other cool new thing at his school, his glory was short lived. Everyone loved watching him show off and wanted to join in on the fun, until the next new and exciting thing entered their lives. All of the other boys who had purchased skateboards gave up on their quest to learn the sport, and moved onto collecting trading cards from a game everyone was playing. 

Unlike the others, Kojiro didn’t stop skating. His board no longer held the promise of popularity, yet he still felt drawn to it. It had sparked something else in him, a desire for something more than the praise of his peers. 

It was the rush of adrenaline he felt any time he went soaring through the air. The rumble he felt in the soles of his feet as he sped over unfinished streets. The sting of falling down, yet knowing he’d get right back up and that no amount of bruises or gravel digging into his skinned wrists could stop him. 

And while all the boys in his class had given up on the sport, Kojiro went to junior high school and found a small number of new acquaintances who also skateboarded. He made new friends, and his life developed into a new pattern. 

It was a bit more fun than before, and yet it still felt just as average. He woke up. He went to school. He met with his friends to skateboard. He went home for dinner. He studied. He went to sleep. 

And then one day, as he was leaving the front door of his school, he saw something that nearly made him miss the last 4 steps down the stairs. 

It wasn’t unusual for him to see students he didn’t recognize. All of them had just entered high school, and plenty of them had come from different primary schools. 

But this was the first time he ever saw a male student, with fair pink hair. 

The student who had caught Kojiro’s eye was far away when he spotted him, already exiting through the front gates by the time Kojiro made it out the front door. So after Kojiro recovered from the fall he nearly took, he sprinted the rest of the way across the school yard, making it to the front gate as fast as his feet could take him, hopeful to see more than back of the other boy’s head. 

Luck was on his side. Just as he reached the gate, a group of students in the school yard started to make a ruckus. The sudden shouts and hollers caught the attention of the surrounding students, including the pink haired one, who turned to look back at the cause of the chaos. 

Kojiro knew right away. That was him. The boy with the umbrella. He had grown taller, and his face had thinned out, but there was no mistaking those golden eyes and his thin delicate eyebrows. 

Kojiro heard the faint tinkle of bells, and felt his heart skip a bit. He thought he had lost his mind for a moment, until he saw a female student nearby, holding up a charm with bells on it to show it off to her friend. 

He let out a small sigh of relief, thankful for his continued grasp on sanity. But by the time he looked back to where he had seen the pink haired boy, he was already gone. 

* * *

The next day, Kojiro brought the umbrella with him to school. 

This earned him some gentle teasing from his friends, but it was explained away easily enough when he told them he was simply returning something he had borrowed. They dropped it, and Kojiro spent the rest of the day anxiously checking the time as he waited for classes to let out. 

His plan was simple. Wait by the front gates until the pink haired boy came by and return the borrowed umbrella. Not only would be able to confirm for sure that this other student was in fact the kid he met 3 years back, he’d also be able to clear his conscience. It was the right thing to do. 

Not to mention, he never thanked the boy for his kindness on that day. So he’d return the umbrella, give him a proper apology and express his gratitude, then part ways and bask in the delight of his good deed. 

So when classes were finally dismissed at the end of the day, Kojiro walked as fast as he could for the front gate of the school. He had already explained to his friends that he would join them later after returning the umbrella, to make sure he didn’t miss his chance to meet the pink haired boy at the gates. 

As it turned out, his precaution was completely unnecessary. The first flood of students made their way out of the school, with no pink haired boy in sight. 

Kojiro waited diligently, but started to fret as the last stragglers made their way past him. 

There was a back entrance to the school, but it didn’t lead anywhere besides a series of dirty alleyways and dumpsters. Surely the other boy didn’t leave through there. Unless he was trying to get to the closest convenience store, in which case the most direct path would be going through those alleys. But that shortcut only shaved about a minute off of one’s travel time, surely no one would subject themselves to passing by the dumpsters full of discarded cafeteria food just to avoid turning a few extra corners on the main roads. Or, what if Kojiro had simply lost him in the crowd? There was an especially packed wave of students who all exited through the gates at the same time. Kojiro had made a point to inspect all of them as carefully as he could, but what if the other boy was behind someone taller than him, and had remained out of Kojiro’s line of sight? 

That was when a loud whistle from the side of the school snapped him out of his thoughts, and Kojiro remembered something. After school programs. Of course! He was probably a part of some club, and had stayed behind for club activities. That made sense. 

So Kojiro had a choice. He could decide to abandon his mission, and try again tomorrow. If such a thing was the case, clubs usually only met once per week. He’d be able to bring the umbrella again tomorrow, and would probably catch the stranger at an appropriate time. 

Yeah. He could just go home. Any time he wanted to. In fact, he didn’t really need to return the umbrella at all. They hadn’t made any promises to one another, after all. They were simply two strangers, and the other boy had abandoned his umbrella, probably expecting that he would never see it again. Kojiro had friends waiting for him. He could even just leave the umbrella at the front gate. If the other boy saw it and recognized it he could pick it up, or a janitor would come by and dispose of it. Easy solution. Case closed. 

Kojiro ended up sitting down on the ground, umbrella in his lap, and waited on his own for another two hours until club members started to exit the building. 

Once the first group of students started to file out, he sprang back to his feet, on alert again. Pink was a rare hair color to have, and with the low volume of students leaving the building, Kojiro was confident it would be easy to spot his target. 

One another another, small groups of students left the building. No pink hair in sight. 

Kojiro had almost lost hope by the time a half hour passed. It had been about 10 minutes since anyone had left the building. He’d have to head home to make it on time for dinner soon. 

But just when Kojiro was getting ready to leave the front gates, it happened. The front door of the school opened, and a solitary student was making his way down the stairs. 

Kojiro was so excited, he wasn’t able to wait until the boy made it to the front gate. He jogged down the pavement, and met the other halfway. 

“Hey!” he shouted while waving one of his hands to get the other boy’s attention. 

The pink haired boy was in the process of putting headphones on, but paused when Kojiro called for his attention. He stopped walking, and looked up just as Kojiro arrived in front of him. 

The two stared at one another for a few moments, in silence. 

“... Do you need something?” the boy finally responded, when it became clear that Kojiro was not prepared to start the conversation. 

It suddenly occurred to Kojiro that while he had planned out his goals for the encounter, he had not actually considered how he would explain his intentions in the conversation. It seemed so reasonable at the time. But now that he was face to face with the person he had been waiting for, explaining himself suddenly felt way more complicated than he was prepared for. 

“No!” Kojiro started, with a bit more gusto than he expected that declaration to come out with. He had a moment of fear that his first word was too aggressive for the other boy to handle, but he hadn’t even flinched. He just stood there, hands in his pockets, waiting for Kojiro to explain himself. Somehow, this made Kojiro even more nervous. 

“I mean.. No- I don’t… Uh,” Kojiro stammered. He was trying to buy time, and come up with the right words on the fly. 

He couldn’t come up with any sort of conversation segway that made sense. So in an act of desperation, he simply held out the umbrella. 

“This is yours.” 

The pink haired boy looked down at the umbrella, considered it, then looked back up at Kojiro’s face. 

“No it’s not,” he said. 

Kojiro frowned, somewhat annoyed by the other boy’s standoffish response. Still, he didn’t lower the umbrella, trying his best to remain polite. 

“It is. I don’t know if you remember or not… it was a few years ago. I was sitting on the side of the road, and it was about to rain, so you gave this to me,” he explained. 

The pink haired boy continued looking at Kojiro, before realization suddenly lit up his features. 

“Ah. So that was you? The crying kid with the knee pads?” he asked. 

Kojiro felt his face and ears turn hot with embarrassment. 

“I wasn’t crying!” he argued. 

At this, the corners of the other boy’s lips turned up. His eyes narrowed with mirth, giving him that same fox like appearance that Kojiro thought of any time he passed by a stall selling kitsune masks, or heard the faint jingling of bells in the distance. 

“Liar,” the boy said. 

Kojiro’s head was swimming with thoughts. This conversation wasn’t going the way he had prepared for it to go, and he was starting to feel lost. He shook his head to try to clear his mind, focusing back on his original intent. 

The other boy clearly remembered their meeting. And Kojiro still had the umbrella in his hands. He had to give it back, and properly thank the stranger. Right. Of course. Simple. 

“Well…. I… this is yours. I just wanted to thank y-” 

“I don’t need it anymore,” the boy cut in before Kojiro could finish his thought. 

Once again, Kojiro felt completely thrown off of his center of gravity. All he could do was blink, dumbly keeping the umbrella held out in front of him. 

“But… it’s yours,” Kojiro tried to explain. 

The boy tilted his head slightly, and asked “Did you think I spent all this time without getting a new umbrella? I have two at home.” 

Of course he had gotten another umbrella in the meantime. Kojiro knew that, it’d be stupid to not replace the one he had given away. But Kojiro wanted to explain that it wasn’t about that. It was the principle of the matter, about doing the right thing and not keeping something that wasn’t rightfully his. The problem was that the longer this conversation went on, the more lost he felt, unable to put those thoughts into words to explain himself. 

He could only stare down at the umbrella, wondering where he was supposed to go from there. 

Kojiro was getting more embarrassed by the second. At first he had anticipated a simple and polite exchange, and now he was starting to fear that he had revealed some sort of weakness of character. Surely the other boy would now mock him for his lack of foresight, and for being a crybaby who needed a helmet and couldn’t properly apologize for his weakness. 

Kojiro looked down at the ground, waiting for the final blows. 

“You still skate,” the boy said instead. 

Kojiro looked up. 

“W… what?” 

The boy pointed to a spot behind Kojiro. 

“That’s your skateboard by the gate. Right?” he asked. 

Kojiro looked over his shoulder, then back to the boy. He nodded. 

It was at that point that he finally realized something he had missed before. He had been so focused on his mission, he had completely missed the fact that the other boy was holding onto a skateboard of his own, tucked under one of his arms. 

This discovery sparked a jolt of excitement in Kojiro, causing him to smile. 

“Ah! You skate too?” 

The boy made an affirmative noise, before he let his skateboard drop to the ground and planted one foot on the board. 

“Let’s go,” he said, casually rolling the skateboard back and forth on the ground. 

“Right now?” Kojiro asked, still struggling to follow along the path of their conversation. 

The boy shrugged. 

“Sure. Why not? I was going to go to the park anyway. Come with me.” 

The thought of skateboarding together made a flare of excitement light up in Kojiro. He wanted to show off what he could do. He wanted to see how this other boy matched up against him. 

But as he pulled out his phone to check the time, a wave a regret washed over him. 

“I can’t… I have to be home for dinner soon,” he explained, shoulders sagging. 

“So? Text your mom and tell her you’re going to be home late,” the boy said. 

Doing something like that was totally out of character for Kojiro. Even when he was having a blast with his friends, always left the group right on time so he wouldn’t miss dinner with his family. Not because he would be punished if he wasn’t home. The temptation had just never outweighed his sense of responsibility. 

But with one look at the other boy, posed so casually with his foot on his skateboard, every doubt he had crumbled. 

He started typing on his keyboard.  _ ‘Sorry, I’m going to miss dinner today. I’m spending time with…’ _

“Ah,” Kojiro said, looking from his phone to the other boy. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even ask you for your name.” 

“Sakurayashiki Kaoru,” the other boy said. 

“Sakurayashiki-kun…” said Kojiro, testing the name out. “That’s a mouthful.” 

“Is it too long for you to remember? You can call me by my first name if you need to make it easier on yourself,” Kaoru said, putting his other foot up on the board now. 

“No! I’m saying it’s pretentious!” Kojiro shot back, curling a fist at his side. 

Kaoru started to move away on his board, and Kojiro called out again. 

“Hey! Don’t you want to know my name?!” 

Kaoru swerved back, and moved in a circle around Kojiro. 

“I already know what you are, crybaby,” he said. 

“I told you, I wasn’t crying!” Kojiro argued. He swiped out with a hand to bat at Kaoru, but the boy was too fast for him. He managed to avoid the strike, and pushed off on the ground, and took off down the street. 

Kojiro grabbed his skateboard, and took off after Kaoru. 

And that was how he spent the rest of his adolescence. Arguably, even his adult years. 

Always chasing after Kaoru, doing everything in his power to remain by his side. Finding excuses to reach out and make contact with him, even if most of the time that meant a playful punch, or messing up his perfect hair, or putting him in a headlock for saying something insulting. 

It took years for Kojiro to become ‘cool’. And while he would never admit it out loud, that transformation began when Kaoru became his friend. 

Kojiro was reserved as a child. But Kaoru had taught him to find his wild side, the part of him that got a thrill out of disrespecting authority. When he had problems standing up for himself, Kaoru pushed his buttons until it brought the fighter out in him. And when the weight of the world was on his shoulders and he pushed himself too hard, Kaoru was there to remind him that grades didn’t determine his worth as a person. 

Years went by, and Kojiro still felt like he had never truly reached Kaoru. Every step he took forward, it felt like Kaoru took another step back. 

Kojiro became more adventurous, but Kaoru became more reserved. Kojiro became more easy going, and suddenly Kaoru was the one with a dozen assignments at work he spent all his energy on executing perfectly. 

Kojiro knew that he’d probably be chasing after Kaoru for the rest of his life. But he was fine with that. Even if he was one step away, Kaoru was never out of arm’s reach from him. So they were never alone. 

In the end, the umbrella never made it back it it’s original owner. So Kojiro kept it with him, tucked in the back of his closet no matter how many times he moved, and promised himself that he’d get it back to Kaoru some day. 

* * *

Kaoru was careful about the information he shared with other people. 

Sometimes he kept information to himself because he didn’t trust the other person, and didn’t want to give them ammunition to use against him. Sometimes he kept his secrets because he simply didn’t see the point in revealing those parts of himself. 

Over the course of his lifetime, plenty of people had asked him why he started skateboarding. He always gave the same answer: it was a challenge, and he liked challenging himself. 

It wasn’t a lie, per say. That was a part of the reason. 

But the whole truth, his best kept secret, was that he decided he wanted to skateboard the day he met a young boy his age just before a heavy rainfall. 

A boy sitting on the ground, covered with scrapes and scratches even if he had clearly been wearing protective gear while he had been practicing. Someone who was so frustrated, that he chucked his helmet down an empty street. 

He threw away his helmet, his knee pads, his elbow pads, every piece of gear that was supposed to act as a barrier between him and the consequences of his failures. But even at his lowest, the skateboard never left his side. 

Before they had even exchanged one word between them, Kaoru knew that this was the sort of person that did not give up when he set his mind to something. 

And even with tears still streaming down his face, Kaoru looked at that boy and could only think one thing. 

He looked cool. 

  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Everybody Talks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING this is the only time they're going to be an update this fast!!! The next update will take a few days up to a week, I just really wanted to get into the main plot of this story and start writing matchablossom with their adult dynamic. But we're finally here! The true plot BEGINS! 
> 
> This week on The Gambler, writing for Cherry and Joe when no one else is around is a difficult exercise in 'how so I actually get the plot line to move forward because they could literally just argue back and forth with each other for 20 years because both of them have to have the last word.
> 
> EDIT: Had to edit a typo out of this chapter!! My apologies if that messed with anyones subscription! I accidentally wrote about hands boobing up and down instead of bobbing and if I left that typo in there I was going to die of shame. That's what I get for thinking too much about Joe's big honking jugs, oops

When someone bursted in through the front door of his restaurant after hours one night, Kojiro didn’t need to look up from the food preparation he was working on to see who it was. 

One, his hunch had already told him that he would be getting visited by Kaoru that evening. It was why he had left the door unlocked in the first place, and had already set out a clean wine glass in front of Kaoru’s usual spot at one of the dining counters. 

Two, Kojiro had placed the closed sign up on the front door. The only other people he knew who had the audacity of ignoring that sign were a certain pair of high schoolers and their young prodigy tag-a-long. 

And three, because the man loudly announced his presence and his intentions the second he had a foot through the threshold. 

“We have a problem,” Kaoru said. 

“ _You_ have a problem. The restaurant is closed for business, you’ll have to come back later,” Kojiro responded dryly. 

Kaoru scoffed, and locked the door behind himself. 

“You’ve tried that joke already this week. Come up with new material,” he said. 

“My jokes are great, you just don’t have a sense of humor,” said Kojiro. 

“Shut up,” Kaoru replied, as brilliant as ever. 

And so, their routine went on as per usual. Kaoru moved to the side of the room to plug Carla into the wall to charge, and Kojiro bent down to pul outl a bottle of white wine that he had set aside in the small cooler under the counter. 

Until Kaoru rounded back to his original point. 

“Carla just texted you a link. Read it,” he instructed as he sat down in his usual spot. 

Kojiro hit his head on the edge of the counter as he moved to stand back upright. He held the chilled bottle of wine in one hand, using his free hand to rub at the sore spot. 

“Right now?” he asked. 

Kaoru rolled his eyes. 

“I assumed the time frame was implied. Yes. Right now.” 

“My phone’s in the back, I’m not walking all the way there to get it. Just tell me.” 

“If I told you, you’d just go back and get your phone anyway to make sure I’m not lying. It’ll be faster for you to go now,” Kaoru explained. Then he made a small motion with his head and eyes, bringing his empty wine glass to Kojiro’s attention. 

“Oh, no. If you’re making me go all the way back to the office to get my phone, you can wait for your free booze. Moocher,” Kojiro said. 

“This is a terrible way to treat your clients,” Kaoru complained. 

“You’re not a client if you don’t pay for anything!” 

“I’ll be sure to leave a negative review of your restaurant,” Kaoru said, and then pointed to the door to the backroom. “Phone.” 

Kojiro scowled, and went back to get his phone. He brought the wine bottle with him though, just to inconvenience his worst customer. 

When he got back to the front of the restaurant, sure enough, there was another bottle sitting out on the counter, and Kaoru sipped from a freshly filled glass of wine. 

Kojiro had completely forgotten about the second bottle he had stashed in the cooler behind the counter. Damnit. 

“Hey! I never said you could have that one,” he complained. 

“It’s a cheap bottle. You would have served it to me anyway,” said Kaoru. 

He was right, but that didn’t mean Kojiro was any less ticked off. It was the principle of the matter. 

“Parasite…” he mumbled under his breath, as he went back around the counter to return the bottle he had brought into the back with him. 

“Did you open that link?” Kaoru asked. 

“No. I was too busy considering how to best serve your every whim and desire, your majesty.” 

“I am satisfied, at the moment.” 

“Have you heard of a concept called sarcasm?” 

“At this point, you are the only one who is distracting yourself from the task at hand.”

Finally, Kojiro decided to indulge his friend and take a look at what was so terribly important to him. He leaned his hip against the counter, and opened the link in Carla’s text. 

And it _was_ a text from Carla. Kojiro had no idea how Kaoru had managed to hack into his phone and create a separate contact for Carla, but Kojiro now received messages from both of them separately. 

The link led to an internet forum. Some sort of community for fans of S, where they could talk about their favorite skaters, organize events, seek advice for which model of skateboard to buy, and anything else related to surrounding topics. 

Kojiro had known of its existence, but had rarely visited it. He only viewed it once in a blue moon when he wanted a boost of confidence and read some of the fan threads dedicated to Joe. 

The link that Carla sent him had redirected him to one thread in particular. 

‘ _Matchablossom: The truth is out there_ ’. 

Kojiro squinted his eyes. What the hell was a matchablossom? A new skater? 

He read on. 

The original poster was someone by the username XBoardHoardX. 

_‘Hey all! So my friends and I were talking about this, just wanted to see if anyone else noticed this too or came up with the same idea as us. I know it sounds crazy but hear me out._

_You ever notice how any time Cherry Blossom shows up to S, Joe shows up at almost the exact same time? And they don’t always leave together, but after one of them leaves the other one doesn’t stay for more than 5 minutes (me and my friends timed this, can confirm its accuracy). Everyone says they hate each other, and they do argue a lot, but they’re always standing right next to each other when they watch other racers. You’d think if they hated each other they’d want to be as far apart as possible._

_I know they’re both founders of S, so I guess they might just be close because of that. But what if they’re secretly dating, and the fighting thing is just an act? I totally think we’re onto something!’_

Kojiro read over that last part again. 

Secretly… dating. 

Dating. 

Him. And Kaoru. 

Dating. 

“W…” Kojiro started, frozen as his mind struggled to process the information. 

Kaoru gave an affirmative nod, humming thoughtfully. 

“What?!” Kojiro shouted. 

“I know.” 

Kojiro frantically looked through the rest of the page. 

There was a poll at the top of the thread, measuring people’s agreement with the theory. 1,345 votes. 

Twenty six percent of people agreed, and were utterly convinced that this was actually happening. 

Thirty five percent of people said that there was not enough evidence for them to be convinced, but wouldn’t be surprised if this was factual information. 

Thirty nine percent of people said that the theory couldn’t be accurate. 

Kojiro quickly scrolled through some of the comments. 

_‘I hadn’t considered that before, but it makes sense. Even when they hit each other you can tell it doesn’t actually hurt that bad.’_

_‘No way! Joe’s my future husband! If I found out he was dating Cherry I’d seriously cry!’_

_‘Have you seen the amount of girls Joe hangs around? There’s no way!’_

_‘Unless that’s part of the act? Sure he kisses them, but have you ever seen him spend time with the same girl for more than one night?’_

_‘Cherry sama would never stoop so low!’_

_‘Whether it’s true or not, it’s weird to make assumptions about people’s personal lives...’_

“You’re right!” Kojiro shouted at his phone. 

_‘... they’ll come out in the open about it when they’re ready to. I think we should give them their privacy until then.’_

Kojiro felt his soul leave his body. 

Kaoru held out a glass of wine towards Kojiro. He took it, but was too deep in a state of shock to drink from it. 

“... Kaoru. We have a problem,” he said. 

“I told you,” said Kaoru. 

“I mean… this is ridiculous!” Kojiro said. He placed the wine glass down on the counter, so he wouldn’t spill it as he waved his hands around. “How do people come up with crazy stories like this?! They have to have way too much free time on their hands. Kids these days, right?” 

“As preposterous as the idea is, it doesn’t change the fact that the conspiracy theory exists,” Kaoru said, much more level headed than Kojiro. 

But that wasn’t fair. Kaoru had had time to process the information. Knowing him, he had probably been drinking tea at the time and spat it out all over the place when he first read the thread. Prick. 

“Why didn’t you text this to me when you first found it?” Kojiro asked, pointing accusingly at Kaoru. 

“Because I knew you’d over-react, and that I’d have to be in your presence to stop you from doing something stupid.” 

“Oh, I’m about to do something stupid all right,” said Kojiro, already scrolling to the top of the page again. “I’m about to get _real_ stupid.” 

“If you’re about to try to create an account to dispute the rumors, I believe you’ll find that I’ve already blocked access to that page from your IP address,” said Kaoru. 

Kojiro paused. He lowered the phone slowly, and narrowed his eyes. 

“... You’re a moderator on this forum?” 

“I’m not. But I do have some administrative access. For precautionary reasons.” 

Kojiro felt a vein threatening to bulge in his forehead. 

“And you didn’t delete the thread?” 

Kaoru calmly sipped from his glass again. 

“By the point I had discovered the thread, it had already been active for 24 hours. Deleting it at that point would come across as suspicious, and would have only fed further into the rumors.” 

Kojiro put both of his hands on the counter, and leaned over it to get up in Kaoru’s face. 

“All right, brainiac. Then how do _you_ suggest we squash this?”

“We don’t.” 

If Kojiro had any presence of his soul left in his body, it would have trickled out of his slackened jaw and down onto the table. 

Kaoru took his fan out of the folds of his yukata, and put the end of it under Kojiro’s chin to close his open mouth. 

“As I _said_ , any sort of action from us would only draw more attention to the rumors. The best course of action would be to act like we never saw this in the first place. Without any additional evidence, the theory will eventually stagnante.” 

Kojiro hated it when Kaoru was right. But he was. 

Kojiro pushed the fan away with his hand, and stood up to retrieve his glass of wine. Kaoru swiped it away before Kojiro’s hand could get there, putting his now empty glass in its place. 

Kojiro glared at Kaoru. 

“You have your own glass, asshole.” 

“Wrong. I had two glasses. I gave one to you, and you abandoned it. Now I’m giving this one to you.” 

Kojiro reached for the full glass in Kaoru’s hand, but the other man held it away at arm’s length before Kojiro could get to it. They struggled for a few moments, before Kojiro gave up. If he ended up getting too enthusiastic he’d just make Kaoru spill the wine, and Kojiro would be the one who would end up cleaning it up. So he grumbled, took the empty glass, and started to clean off the edges of it with his apron before he poured himself a glass. 

“I guess it’s not the weirdest rumor the fans have come up with. Remember that time people were saying that ADAM was an alien? And that S was just a way for him to find elite human specimens to take back to his home planet?” Kojiro said. 

Kaoru frowned, and furrowed his brow. 

“If only the explanation was that simple.” 

Kojiro felt a small prick of pain hit his heart. He had meant to try to lighten the mood with that joke. He hated how just hearing ADAM’s name, even just his skating title, was enough to put that look on Kaoru’s face. 

Kojiro had always hoped that as the years went on, the sting of what ADAM had done to them would get easier. It certainly had for him. He still held a grudge against the guy, but he could have lived with it if that grudge was never paid back. 

ADAM didn’t haunt Kojiro like he did Kaoru. That, more than anything, was what Kojiro couldn’t forgive ADAM for. 

The only thing he could do in situations like these was to change course, even if doing so was at his own expense. 

He sighed and made his way around the counter, sitting down on the seat next to Kaoru. 

“This one is up there on the list of craziest rumors, though. I mean, come on. Me and you?” 

Kojiro could see the tension ease from Kaoru’s shoulders immediately. That was good. 

“Of course. I agree with SakuraBlossom24. I would never stoop to such a level.” 

Okay, fuck this guy. 

“As if! Dating someone like me would be the best thing that could ever happen to you.” 

“Oh yes. I’m sure I am missing out on so much. Numerous evenings of watching you throw barrels around and slapping your chest for attention. How romantic,” Kaoru drawled out. 

“Oh, like your idea of a romantic evening isn’t sitting in your house all night making someone watch you teach your weird computer how to scan food and figure out its moisture levels.” 

“I had to teach Carla how to do that after you nearly ended my life by serving me the driest cake I’ve ever had the displeasure of consuming.” 

“I did not make that cake, _you_ bought it from the store and insisted on eating it here because you have nothing better to do than slow down my closing routine.” 

“You were the one who recommended the store I bought it from. And I always make sure to arrive at your restaurant at least one hour after you close. The fact that you have not completed your duties by that time proves that you’re bad at your job.” 

“How considerate of you. Please. Marry me.” 

“And proposals like that only further prove your romantic incompetence.” 

“Like you could do any better!” 

“If I were to have a partner, I have no doubts in my mind that I’d easily outclass you in terms of endearments.” 

Kojiro scoffed, and barked out a sarcastic laugh. 

“Key word being ‘if’! You sound pretty confident for a guy who's never dated anyone.” 

Kaoru glared aside at Kojiro. 

“I’ll have you know that I have dated before. I just don’t feel the need to be so vulgarly public about it, unlike _some_ people.”

“Carla doesn’t count as having a girlfriend, you made her.” 

“I wasn’t counting her!” 

“Fine. Not counting her. How many dates have you been on. One? Two?” 

Kaoru held up his fan, and jabbed the end of it into Kojiro’s shoulder. 

“Spending every night with a different woman doesn’t make you a successful partner. In fact, that speaks more to your inadequacies than it does your strengths. It’s a matter of _quality_ over quantity.” 

Kojiro retorted by reaching out his hand, and faced the other man head on before he stabbed his finger into Kaoru’s shoulder. 

“Well maybe I have both! Every date I’ve been on has been a huge success. You don’t have to admit you’re jealous, but don’t sit there and insult my clearly superior talent.” 

Their faces were closer now, glaring at one another, nearly butting their foreheads against one another. A commonplace stance during their more heated debates. 

“The only thing you’re clearly superior at is smelling like you haven't washed for a week. Between the two of us, I am clearly the more desirable bachelor,” said Kaoru. 

“Oh yeah? Prove it.”

The only reason Kojiro had said that was because it was a knee-jerk response to arguing with Kaoru. It was almost pavlovian. Any time they got this heated about a topic, they were always at odds against one another. And most of those arguments ended with some sort of challenge or way to decide a clear victor. 

Kojiro waited for another one of Kaoru’s sarcastic responses. Instead, the other man stopped glaring. He drew away from Kojiro, and put the end of his fan up in front of his mouth while he started down at the table deep in thought. 

“Hmm,” was all Kaoru said. 

“What’s wrong? Did you finally realize that I’m right and you have no way of measuring up to my level?” asked Kojiro, already grinning victoriously. 

“No, I was about to call you a moron. But there might actually be a way to prove which one of us is a better romantic partner.” 

The grin faded from Kojiro’s face. 

“... huh?” 

“We’ve resolved all of our disagreements with a contest before. Why not utilize the same method for this as well?” Kaoru asked. 

“You can’t seriously be suggesting that we go on competitive dates with random girls and compare the results,” Kojiro said. 

“Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous,” said Kaoru. 

Kojiro let out a sigh of relief, and raised his glass to get a sip of wine. 

“I’m suggesting we competitively date each other.” 

The wine went flying out of Kojiro’s mouth and nose. 

“You’re lucky you didn’t get any of that on me.” 

Once Kojiro recovered from a small coughing fit and wiped his mouth with the back of his wrist, he turned on Kaoru. 

“I must have an ear infection or something. I could have sworn I just heard you say that _we_ should go on a date with each other,” Kojiro said. 

“Not in the traditional sense of the word. We would technically go on dates, yes. But there would be no actual romantic attachment or courting involved in it. Think of it as more of a … simulation.” 

“Why can’t we just both just pick a girl and let them decide who wins?” asked Kojiro. 

“There’s plenty of reasons. For one, there would be no way for me to observe your courting process, and vice versa. If we were to compare our skill set based only on feedback from whoever we dated, I could simply explain the situation to my date and pay her to speak highly of me on my behalf,” Kaoru explained. 

“That’s pretty much the only way you’d ever get a girl to say nice things about a nerd with a personality like yours.” 

Kaoru jabbed his fan into Kojiro’s ribs, which Kojiro responded to by knocking his knee against Kaoru’s. 

“My _point_ is that the results would be unreliable. Unless our dates were the exact same sort of person, there wouldn’t be any control group. Both parties would have a different set of standards,” Kaoru went on. 

“Oh yeah. And our standards are so similar to one another,” Kojiro said, rolling his eyes. 

“We can agree upon a set standard that we will both be judged by. Then, we’ll each take each other on one date. Whoever best exemplifies the personality traits of the ideal partner will come out as the clear victor.” 

“You make it sound so simple…” Kojiro said. 

“Of course. I have to put most things in simplified terms for your underdeveloped brain to comprehend it.” 

Kojiro retaliated to this comment by reaching over and picking up Kaoru’s glass of wine, knocking the rest of it back in two gulps. This unfortunately left his own glass open, which he hadn’t realized was fuller than Kaoru’s had been in the first place, so Kaoru simply reached out and took Kojiro’s glass and placed it out of arm’s reach from the other man. 

“That’s not what I meant by that and you know it,” Kojiro complained. “I mean… does this sound like a good idea? Someone we know could see us and think we’re _actually_ dating.”

Kaoru clicked his tongue, and shook his head in a pitying manner. 

“Kojiro… you’re right. It’s not fair to you, to pose a challenge you have no chance of winning. If you’re too nervous I’ll gladly drop the conversation entirely.” 

Kaoru smirked the second Kojiro’s fist pounded down on top of the counter. 

“As if! You’re on, four eyes!” 

It was almost painfully easy to goad Kojiro into a challenge. All he needed was those magic words: ‘I bet you can’t-’. 

“But…” Kojiro went on, some of that fire sizzling out of his vocal tones. “... I think we should come up with some rules first. Part of ‘setting the standard’ and all that.” 

Kaoru nodded thoughtfully. 

“Agreed. Carla?” he called out, directing his attention to the skateboard charging in the corner. “Record and take notes, please.” 

“Yes, Master,” the robotic voice called back out to him. 

“Rule number one, this stays between us,” said Kojiro, holding up a finger. “No pulling in outside assistance, or pretending like we’re dating when other people are around to make the other guy chicken out of the game. Unless they’re like, a stranger or waiter or something and have to think we’re dating to fit the scene.” 

Kaoru crossed his arms over his chest, and nodded again. 

“Of course. That’s a reasonable request. Rule two, your filthy gorilla lips are not to go anywhere near mine.” 

Kojiro made a gagging sound. 

“As if I’d ever do something like that! Rule three, no sabotaging each other. No one’s going to be a good boyfriend if their date is constantly trying to make them fail.” 

“Rule four, no obscene or vulgar behavior,” Kaoru added. 

“Just what sort of guy do you think I am?” Kojiro asked, one of his eyebrows twitching with irritation. “Do you have any rules in mind that _don’t_ involve your weird assumption that I’m some kind of pervert?” 

Kaoru put his fingertips on his chin, looking up to the ceiling as he thought about that statement. 

“... No.” 

“I’ll have you know, I’m a gentleman. Even if we were actually dating I’d have no problem following those rules. Sounds more like you’re the one with your mind in the gutter.” 

Kaoru ignored him. 

“Carla, read ba-” 

“Wait!” Kojiro cut in. “I have one more rule.” 

Kaoru raised an eyebrow at him, and waited for the final addition. 

Kojiro smirked. He leaned back in his seat, casually placing one of his arms along the back of the chair. He swept his fingers through his hair, before he winked and pointed at Kaoru. 

“Rule number five: Don’t fall in love with me.” 

Kaoru stared back at him, mustering every ounce of energy he had to fully convey the concept of ‘you are a fucking idiot’ onto his face. 

“Is that all?” he asked, flat toned. 

Kojiro only winked again, and flashed his most charming grin. 

“Gross,” was all Kaoru said, before he sighed and turned back to Carla. 

“Carla. Read back the notes.”

Carla processed the information for a moment, and then read their combined list of rules back to them. 

It went as follows. 

Rule 1: The game is to remain confidential at all times. 

Rule 2: No kissing is permitted. 

Rule 3: No sabotaging. 

Rule 4: No obscene or vulgar behavior. 

Rule 5: No falling in love. 

It was a list that seemed to suit both of them. 

Now that the game was set, Kaoru stood up from his chair. 

“Then it’s settled. You’ll need to find someone to cover for you at work on Friday night. I’ll be by in the evening to pick you up for dinner.” 

Kojiro almost nodded, but stopped himself before his head moved. 

“... hey, woah!” he said, and stood up swiftly. “Who said you’re the one who gets to go first?!” 

“I asked first. If you wanted to go first, you should have been faster,” Kaoru said, and smoothed out his yukata. 

“You didn’t ask anything! You just said you were going to pick me up for dinner,” Kojiro retorted. He followed this up by pointing at Kaoru, once again slipping into his charming persona. 

“Kaoru. Would you do me the honor of going on a date with me this weekend?” 

“No,” Kaoru said flatly, with no hesitation. “I’ll be sure to have Carla tell you by Friday morning if there’s a dress code for where we’re going.” 

“Why you little-” Kojiro said, curling up his fists. “You know, a good boyfriend would let his date choose whether or not they want to go first! You’re being very inconsiderate.” 

“A good boyfriend wouldn’t put that sort of pressure on his partner. He’d take initiative.” 

“Well maybe I’m the kind of guy who likes taking the lead on things?” 

“If you enjoy leading, you should have been the first to initiate a date. It’s not my fault you’re slow.” 

Kojiro glared down at Kaoru, who glared back with equal stubbornness. 

Kojiro held out one of his hands between them, and turned it into a fist. 

“Rock, paper, scissors,” he announced. 

Kaoru nodded, and held out his own fist. 

They bobbed their hands three times, and threw them out. 

They both chose scissors. 

Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. 

They both chose paper. 

Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. 

They both chose scissors again. 

Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. 

Two rocks. 

Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. 

Scissors again. 

But this time after they threw their hands down, Kaoru raised his scissors in the air. He moved his hands as though he was about to poke Kojiro in the eyes with his fingers. 

Kojiro flinched and held out his hand in front of his face to block it. 

Kaoru’s scissors made contact with the flat palm of Kojiro’s hand. 

“Scissors cut paper,” Kaoru announced. 

“That’s cheating!” Kojiro said. He pushed Kaoru’s hand away, and shook a fist at him. 

Kaoru covered the fist with his hand. 

“Paper covers rock.” 

It took 45 minutes after his intended departure for Kaoru to finally leave Kojiro’s restaurant. 

They spent the time arguing nonstop about who would be the first to date the other one out on a date, but it was finally decided that Kaoru would be the first up, decided by a series of coin flips. 

For the first 10 minutes after Kaoru departed, Kojiro fumed around the counter top. He cleaned their used wine glasses, disposed of the empty bottle, and muttered to himself about what a stubborn, pompous, insufferable, absolute prick Kaoru could be when he set his mind to it. 

Talking to Kaoru always got him riled up. This time, he had gotten riled up to get distracted from the reality of the situation. Eventually he calmed down around, felt his heart beat return to normal, and felt his head clear up enough to have one of his first coherent thoughts since their conversation. 

‘ _I wonder what sort of shirt I should wear for a date with Kaoru_.’ 

Normally when he went on dates with girls, he could wear just about anything and it would suit him just fine. He just had to leave an extra button or two on his shirt undone. But this wasn’t just any average girl he was going to be going on a date with. This was Kaoru, and-

Kojiro had been wiping the counter down with a cloth, but paused in his actions. 

He replayed the sentence his mind had just come up with. 

A date. With Kaoru. 

Kojiro had done some _very_ stupid things during the course of his life time. He had once tried to eat hot peppers every day for breakfast, because he wanted to increase his tolerance to spicy food. He had tried to go undercover to visit one of his own fan gatherings to see what sort of things his fans got up to when he wasn’t around. He had injured himself plenty of times trying to do insane tricks and stunts just to show off. 

But this was by far the absolute stupidest thing he had ever done. 

Because Kojiro was in love with Kaoru. 

Not ‘I think you’re beautiful and I would like to kiss you’ in love. 

Not ‘Every time I see you I feel strange and I’ve never felt that way about anyone before’ in love. 

This was ‘One time in high school you laughed at a joke I made and put your head on my shoulder because you were laughing so hard you couldn’t sit up straight and now If I don’t see or hear from you for more than a week my entire world feels empty, and I would literally sell my soul to get to see you every day for the rest of my life, it's not even that I want you, I need you’ in love. 

And he had just agreed to go on at least two dates with Kaoru, but not real ones, because apparently Kojiro was a masochist who liked making his own existence as excruciating as possible. 

Kojiro leaned over the counter, and let his forehead rest on the surface as he cursed himself. 

Kojiro was powerful in most of the aspects of his life. He was strong, physically. He was a force to be reckoned with as an opponent. He was confident with women, charming and unflappable. 

Kaoru was the only person who could break through Kojiro, and he didn’t even have to make an effort. Kaoru liked to joke that Kojiro was easily fooled, never realizing that he was the only one who could wrap Kojiro around his finger like that. 

From the moment Kaoru had decided that a dating competition was a good idea, Kojiro hadn’t stood a chance. 

Kojiro allowed himself a few more minutes of self pity, before he lifted himself off of the counter. 

He rubbed at his face and eyes, easing the stress out of them. 

“It’s fine,” he told himself. “It’s not going to be that different than what we normally do. You’ve been holding onto this for years, two fake dates isn’t going to change anything.” 

Of course it wouldn’t. One does not keep their ever-growing crush a secret for over 10 years only for it to be so easily discovered. And knowing the two of them, their outings wouldn’t even feel like dates. It would just be another excuse to spend time with one another, they’d fail to come to a conclusion, call it a draw and go back to living as they normally did. 

No problem. 

  
  
  



	3. Science vs Romance: Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOPS I DID IT AGAIN!!!! 
> 
> As per usual I got a little verbose with my chapter! I feel like the perfect chapter length is 3k words, to make it easier to read and find your place if you have to pause without being hit by a giant wall of text. So I'm uploading a two parter! Two "chapters" at once, but it's all apart of the same segment of the story. Any time I have to do this in the future both parts will be uploaded at the same time! 
> 
> Also, I'm adding a little something extra to uploads from now on. All my chapter titles have been based on songs, so I'm going to add some of the lyrics to the start of the chapter for a lil extra flavor text~

_ I used to think  _

_ If I could realize I'd die  _

_ Then I would be a lot nicer  _

_ Used to believe  _

_ in a lot more _

_ Now I just see _

_ Straight ahead  _

_ Facts versus romance _

_ You go and call yourself the boss  _

_ But we're not robots in a grid  _

_ Science vs Romance - by Rilo Kiley  _

* * *

In hindsight, challenging Kojiro to a date-off was not the best idea Kaoru had ever come up with. 

His best idea had been Carla, of course. Followed shortly by his design choices when it came to putting together his look for his appearances as Cherry Blossom. 

Competitive dating was somewhere down in the lower middle section on the list, firmly in the ‘questionable choices’ section. 

He could have put the brakes on it as soon as the thought crossed his mind. He had other chances in the middle of the conversation to bail out as well, and yet he had decided to push forward with it. 

Why? 

Because any time he was around Kojiro he reverted back to his teenage self. 

The face he showed the rest of the world and the way he behaved around Kojiro were like day and night. 

To strangers he was incredibly polite. He was composed. Dignified. Unshakeable. He never raised his voice more than he had to. If he found a fault with someone’s behavior, he was the sort who would exact his vengeance in subtle manners rather than make a spectacle of himself. 

Perhaps it was the fact that with Kojiro he didn’t have a reputation to uphold. Kojiro already knew all of his flaws, his dreams, his likes and dislikes. 

Kojiro had been there when Kaoru won his first race. He was the first person that Kaoru ever introduced Carla to. He had listened to Kaoru complain about his family. He’d been there when Kaoru had his first panic attack. They’d had their first alcoholic beverages together, followed by their first hangovers. Their first time travelling out of the country. They’d been through everything together. 

It wasn’t that the way Kaoru acted around people he wasn’t as familiar with was a lie. He considered that facet of himself to also be a genuine part of his personality. But it was only one side of the coin. 

He was Sakurayashiki Kaoru, and he was Cherry Blossom. 

He was a gifted calligrapher, and he was a gifted skateboarder. 

And the only person in the world who understood the full picture was a giant hulking gorilla man with no shame and the attention span of a glazed donut. 

So Kaoru ended up lowering his inhibitions around him, which often ended up with him making impulsive decisions that he’d later regret. 

The important thing was that the level of regret never reached significant amounts. The worst that Kaoru had ever experienced from a bad decision when it came to Kojiro was a certain level of embarrassment. Kojiro would mock him for a bit, rub it in his face, and then the two of them would move onto the next matter in their lives. 

Due to the previous data he had gathered, Kaoru had no need to worry about his current circumstances. This would be like the rest of their childish bickering matches. 

Kaoru had calculated all of the risks, and came to the conclusion that nothing could go wrong. 

For one, he was guaranteed to come out victorious. He had the advantage of already knowing all of Kojiro’s seduction techniques. The other man was as transparent about flirting as he was in every other facet of his personality. Kaoru could not be surprised or thrown off his game. Kojiro, on the other hand, had never witnessed Kaoru when he was in his element. 

Additionally, Kojiro was straight. This meant that no matter what transpired between the two of them, it would never make for awkward romantic tension. It would simply be a demonstration of their abilities, and wouldn’t change anything about the nature of their platonic relationship. 

That fact had been the saving grace of their friendship. Why their bond had lasted for so many years with no risk of falling apart. 

Kaoru, unlike Kojiro, was not straight. He couldn’t recall a time he had ever been attracted to a woman. 

Under normal circumstances, this might have caused a problem. There had been plenty of times when he had started to confuse his fondness of Kojiro for something deeper than friendship. But any time such a moment happened all he had to do was remind himself that Kojiro was unable to return those feelings, and he could push those thoughts back down. 

At this point in their friendship, Kaoru had gone through that confusion too many times to be thrown off by it. Such a feeling was as natural to him as the tides of the ocean. They would come in, and then they would leave again. Back and forth, so predictable that he could chart them on an almanac and predict the pattern for years to come. 

If this challenge caused those feelings to wash ashore, it was a given that they would depart with no consequence or effort. 

Therefore: nothing could go wrong. 

It was all absolutely foolproof. 

* * *

Kaoru had Carla text Kojiro during the morning a few days before their first date. 

The timing of this was vital. For their date Kaoru had gotten reservations at ‘ _ Ristorante Il Lago _ ’, one of the most renown italian restaurants in the entire country. It was a five star restaurant, with a strict dress code. 

The destination of their date would be kept as a surprise until the night of the event, but Kaoru informed Kojiro of what he should prepare in terms of attire. He even sent several links to local fashion boutiques within his price range that would have suitable clothing for him to purchase. 

Under normal circumstances with Kojiro he would have simply texted him the morning of their intended date and told him to wear something not stained with sweat, but these were not normal circumstances. By texting him in advance, Kaoru was showcasing his thoughtfulness as a partner. 

To further accentuate his attention to detail, he checked in with Kojiro every morning leading up to the date to ask if he had obtained a proper outfit yet. Each time, Kojiro assured him that he’d get around to it. 

On the night of their date, Kaoru showed up at Kojiro’s apartment at 8pm on the dot, with a full suit in Kojiro’s size. 

Because he knew. He just  _ knew _ that Kojiro hadn’t been to any of the stores Kaoru had suggested and that he was going to open the door dressed in some sort of atrocious get up. 

Kaoru was right. As he always was. 

Kojiro opened his front door with a casual grin and a wave of his hand. Dressed in nothing but black slacks and a short sleeved white button up shirt with the top buttons undone. 

Kaoru grimaced and shoved the garment bag he had into Kojiro’s arms before the other man had a chance to speak. 

“Put this on,” he instructed. 

“What?” Kojiro asked, inspecting the bag skeptically. 

“You’re dressed like a barbarian. I  _ told _ you, we are going to a high end restaurant. Carla gave you several reminders to dress appropriately.” 

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” Kojiro asked, scowling back at Kaoru. “It’s a plain shirt, no prints or colors or anything.” 

“If you had read my instructions, you would know that the restaurant has a strict policy about wearing a jacket during dinner hours,” Kaoru said. He pushed back Kojiro into the apartment and made his way to his living room. “I’ll wait while you get changed. We have enough time for you to do so before we have to arrive for our reservation.” 

“You’re not wearing a suit.” 

“I’m dressed in traditional formal wear. You need a jacket.” 

Kojiro closed his front door with an aggravated grumble. 

“What if it doesn’t fit? Aren’t these things supposed to be tailored or something?” Kojiro asked. 

“It will fit. I asked for the biggest size they had in stock, with a forgiving thread count so you don’t tear through the seams.” 

That part was a lie. What Kaoru had actually done was have Carla analyze several photos of Kojiro in order to calculate his exact measurements. But he didn’t need to know that. 

“Do I seriously have to?” Kojiro complained. 

“Would you prefer forfeiting the competition?” 

“Fine,” Kojiro shot back. He turned and made his way towards the bathroom, grumbling to himself along the way. “I’ll wear the  _ stupid _ jacket. Control-freak piece of…” 

Kaoru took out his phone as he sat out on the couch so he could respond to a few business emails as he waited. 

It didn’t take long for Kojiro to exit the bathroom again. A very suspiciously short period of time. 

Kaoru let out a huff of frustration as soon as he saw him. 

Sure enough, Kojiro had put the jacket on. He was, however, clearly still wearing the same pants and the same shirt under it with the tie held in one of his hands. 

“There. Happy?” Kojiro asked. 

“That’s not what I meant when I told you to get changed.” 

“You said they have a jacket policy. I put on a jacket,” Kojiro said, sweeping his hands over said garment. “You can’t even tell what sleeve length I’m wearing when I have it on.” 

Kaoru stood up and crossed the room to stand in front of him. 

“Yes you can. When wearing a suit, you’re supposed to see the ends of your sleeves from under the hem of the jacket’s sleeves.” 

Kaoru wanted to push his point until he got his way and made Kojiro get into the full suit. Unfortunately, if their past arguments were anything to go by, the amount of time it would take to achieve this goal would put them well past the start of their reservation. 

Kojiro’s pants matched the color of the jacket. And while the shirt was not a proper match for the jacket, it wouldn’t be noticeable unless under careful scrutiny. It was shabby but it would have to do, after some final adjustments. 

Kaoru reached up and started to button up the front buttons of Kojiro’s shirt that he had left undone, up to his collar. 

From this distance he couldn’t help but notice one small detail that was shockingly pleasant. 

Kojiro had at least taken the proper care to clean up nicely. His hair was still slightly damp from a shower he must have taken about a half hour before Kaoru’s arrival. Not only that, but he was wearing cologne. A proper amount of it. Just enough to be sensed when you got close, instead of dousing himself in it and leaving the whole room smelling like teak and mahogany. 

If Kaoru was breathing in a little deeper than usual, he’d never admit it. 

Kojiro made a face, using every ounce of energy to look as miserable as possible. Kaoru pointedly ignored it and took the tie out of Kojiro’s hand before popping his collar up. 

“I know how to tie a tie. They were a part of the uniform in high school, remember?” Kojiro complained. 

“I remember your tie looking like it was put on by a four year old. Hold still.” 

“I  _ am _ holding still.”

“Then stop talking.” 

“You’re choking me.” 

Kaoru completed the knot in the tie, then tightened the loop so it  _ was _ actually choking Kojiro. Not enough to hurt, just enough to make a point. 

Kojiro made a strangled sound and tried to grab onto Kaoru’s wrists, but the man pulled his hands back before Kojiro could get there. 

Kaoru turned his back on Kojiro and made his way back to the front door. 

“Fix your collar yourself. We need to leave now to get to the restaurant on time.” 

Kojiro loosened his tie to a point where it was comfortable and turned his collar back down. While Kaoru’s back was turned, he popped open the top most button on the collar of his shirt. 

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going now?” 

The preparations had finally been completed. Everything was set. It was time for Kaoru to start showing off. 

When he made it to the front door he opened it, then stepped aside while keeping the door open. 

Opening the door for your date. The first rule of being a conscientious partner. 

“I don’t see why I should withhold that information from you any longer. We’ll be having dinner at the Ristorante Il Lago. The finest dining establishment in the city,” Kaoru said with a triumphant smile. 

“Oh. So we’re going to be paying for a meal at one of my competitor’s restaurants. Nice,” Kojiro responded in a flat tone. 

Kaoru wanted to throw something at him. 

Instead, he forced a bigger smile and tried to will his fury back into a simmer. 

“I hardly think your restaurant is in competition with a world acclaimed 5 star restaurant. You like italian food. I am taking you to an italian restaurant, and paying for the full bill. It is an exceptionally thoughtful gesture,” he forced out through his gritted teeth. 

Kojiro put his hands in his pockets and rolled his eyes. 

“Whatever you say,” he said, and went to pick up his wallet. 

There was an empty flower vase by the front door within arms reach. Kaoru could throw it. He wanted to throw it. It was clearly made of plastic and wouldn’t cause any destruction or harm. 

But no. Tonight, he was the perfect boyfriend. Ideal partners did not throw plastic flower vases at their date, no matter how heinously aggravating their behavior was. 

Kojiro picked up some keys from a dish by the door. 

“How far away is it?” 

“You won’t need those. I have a car waiting for us down in the parking lot,” Kaoru boasted. 

Kojiro looked back at Kaoru as he continued to diligently hold the front door open. 

“Jeez. How much money are you planning on spending tonight?” he asked. 

“As much as it takes to create the perfect evening for both of us to enjoy together.” 

Kojiro only shrugged in response to that before he returned his keys to the dish they came from. 

“All right. I’ll make sure to order the most expensive bottle of wine on the menu then.” 

Kaoru held his fist behind his back so Kojiro couldn’t see how hard he was clenching it. 

“Of course.” 

The two of them exited Kojiro’s and made their way down to the parking lot where their driver was waiting for them. Under normal circumstances, the driver would have been the one to exit the vehicle to open the back doors for them. However, Kaoru had specifically instructed their driver to remain in the car, so he could open the door for Kojiro again. 

Right before they reached the car however, Kojiro quickened his pace so he could get to the car first and open the door for Kaoru. He gave Kaoru a shit-eating grin, and bowed a bit as he motioned into the car. 

“After you~” 

Bastard. 

Kaoru gave him a strained smile in return. 

“Thank you. I’ll be sure to return the favor later,” he said. The words were very polite for the veiled threat that it was. 

Kaoru climbed into the car followed by Kojiro, and they set off for the restaurant. 

No words were exchanged at first. Kojiro looked out the window to observe the passing streets, while Kaoru focused on his plans for the evening. 

Once they were at a comfortable distance away from the restaurant, Kaoru decided to enact phase two of the evening. 

Kojiro had both of his hands resting on his thighs. Perfect. 

Kaoru moved one of his hands over, slipped his fingers under the palm of one of Kojiro’s hands, and then curled his fingers around it. 

Kojiro jumped a bit. His eyebrows shot up and his gaze snapped down to their newly clasped hands. 

“... what are you doing?” he asked dumbly. 

“I’m holding your hand. It’s a chaste display of affection commonly practiced by romantic partners,” Kaoru explained. 

The model of car that Kaoru had rented for the evening was the sort with a partition between the driver and the passengers of the car, so there was no need to worry about their privacy being invaded by a stranger. They could speak freely. 

“On a first date?” 

“In order for this experiment to function properly, I believe it would be in our best interest to behave as though we are already in a committed relationship. No one would put their maximum effort into wooing someone on the very first date. Excluding yourself of course.” 

Kaoru kept the polite smile on his face, but tightened his grip on Kojiro’s hand. 

Kojiro gave him an equally strained smile in return, and gripped Kaoru’s hand with even more force. 

“The point of a first date is to make a good impression. Why wouldn’t I want to start at full power?” he asked. 

Kaoru tightened his grip even further. 

“Because you leave no sense of mystery or intrigue. The promise of more good things yet to come builds a sense of anticipation.”

Kojiro also tightened his grip. Both of their knuckles were beginning to turn white now. 

“Maybe I think that reserving my affection for the sake of gaming the system would be insincere?” 

“Maybe that’s why you’ve never had a second date, Darling.” 

Kojiro looked like he was about to have a heart attack after that line. 

Good. Kaoru hoped he choked on it. 

“What? We’re doing pet names now?” Kojiro stammered out. 

“It’s a term of endearment to signify that you have a special place of importance in my life. A title that belongs to no one besides you.” 

Kojiro recovered from the shock, and his plastered-on smile returned to his features. 

“Whatever you say.  _ Babe _ .” 

If Kaoru wasn’t in the position of being the perfect boyfriend, he would have made a sound of disgust. 

By the time their car reached its destination their hands were clasped so tightly onto one another that their hands were shaking from the joint muscle fatigue. 

They locked eyes as the car began to slow to a halt, electricity sparking between them. Not because of any romantic tension , but because they both clearly had the same thing going through their mind. 

It was a race to the next door opening opportunity. 

Kaoru had the advantage here. He was seated on the side closest to the front of the restaurant, Kojiro would have to go around the back of the car to make it to the doors. 

The moment the car stopped, they let go of each other’s hands and opened their car doors at the same time. 

Kaoru tried to move at a respectable pace to the front of the restaurant. They were in public. At a very high class establishment. He wasn’t going to make a spectacle of himself in front of other esteemed guests. 

Unfortunately, Kojiro did not have any qualms about acting like a buffoon. The second he was out of the car, he started running to make it to the front doors. 

Kaoru quickened his pace to make it there before him. 

They both reached the double doors at the same time. Kaoru took one handle, Kojiro took the other, and they both swung the doors open. 

“Please. After you,  _ my dear _ ,” Kaoru insisted. 

“Oh no. You’ve been so generous to me, it’s the least I could do,  _ Pumpkin _ ,” Kojiro responded. 

“Now you’re comparing me to a gourd. How sweet of you.” 

They openly glared at one another now. After a few moments of this, they both noticed that their antics were starting to draw attention. 

They both tried to move into the restaurant at the same time and knocked their shoulders against one another. 

Kojiro subtly elbowed Kaoru in the arm, and Kaoru retaliated by kicking the side of Kojiro’s ankle. 

For the next few minutes they managed to behave themselves. 

They were met by a hostess, who confirmed their reservation and brought them to their table. 

This was also part of Kaoru’s meticulous plan. He had made sure to request a very specific table. Their destination was a table with a beautiful view of the city outside, closed off by glass panes to keep the cold out. The lighting there was perfectly controlled to appear as though it was lit entirely by candlelight, while remaining bright enough to be able to comfortably read the menu. 

Additionally, the table was set off to the side of the restaurant. This seclusion created an intimate setting. More importantly, it kept the two of them away from other people trying to enjoy their meals in pace, as Kaoru did not trust Kojiro to behave himself. 

They were seated, given their menus, and informed that their waiter would be with them shortly to take their drink orders. 

Before he even so much as glanced at the menu, Kojiro started to shrug out of his jacket. Kaoru kicked his shin from under the table before he could get it past his shoulders. 

“Ow!” Kojiro hissed out. “What was that for?” 

“Your jacket is to remain on at all times.” 

“What? Oh, come on. I can’t move in this thing,” Kojiro complained, bending his elbows to display his lack of range in motion. 

“We’re eating dinner, not running a marathon. You’re perfectly capable of moving as much as the situation requires.” 

Kojiro moved his leg forward and stepped down on one of Kaoru’s feet. 

The situation quickly turned into a kicked match under the table, halted only by the presence of their waiter showing up to welcome them to the restaurant. 

When the waiter asked if they had had a chance to look over the menu, Kaoru took in a breath to regain his full composure. He had been about to explain that they had not, but that they would love to have the sommelier come by to make a recommendation. 

The brief pause was just enough time for Kojiro to beat him to the punch. 

There were several things about the next two minutes that had Kaoru gripping the side of the table in frustration. 

The first was that Kojiro was now ordering for the two of them. It had been Kaoru’s intention to take the lead on that. He was, after all, the one treating the two of them to dinner. 

The second was that Kojiro was behaving as though he wasn’t being held hostage here. Only moments ago he had looked like he was considering jumping through the double-panned glass out into the streets to escape, but now he had an easy going smile on his face. 

Third, when Kojiro spoke up to order, he switched to speaking completely in Italian. Kaoru had almost forgotten that his friend was fluent in the language. Kaoru himself was well versed enough to know some phrases in Italian, enough to make an order at a restaurant if he had to, but he only used that knowledge if was travelling abroad and the situation called for it. 

There was absolutely no reason for Kojiro to make his order in Italian. He was showing off. Worse, the waiter seemed pleasantly surprised by the development and switched languages to respond in kind. 

Was it impressive? Sure. With that charming smile, the well fit suit, and his naturally charismatic nature, Kojiro looked every bit of the dashing gentleman role he was currently fulfilling. A lesser man would be swooning in his seat at the sight of it. 

But Kaoru was no fool. He had once seen Kojiro eat an entire gallon of ice cream with his hands because he was too drunk to find a spoon. One does not witness a travesty like that and forget it so easily. 

Besides. While he was not ordering the most expensive bottle on the menu as he had previously threatened, the price point of the choice he made was well above what he would normally order for the two of them if they were splitting the check. 

It was a fine choice. Kaoru would have been quite pleased to drink it if he had been the one to suggest it. But he hadn’t, and now if he tried to cut in and argue for an alternate choice in wine he’d come across as rude. 

So when Kojiro turned back to him and returned to Japanese to ever so innocently ask “Does that sound good to you, Kaoru?”, he only had one option. 

Kaoru smiled politely, and nodded. 

“Yes, that sounds perfect. Thank you.” 

Then he gave Kojiro another subtle kick under the table for good measure. 


	4. Science vs Romance: Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nope no feelings here. Falling in love was against the rules. REMEMBER??? 
> 
> Part two of the chapter! Okay I SWEAR this time the next chapter will take a bit longer to upload. Maybe. Unless the spirit of matchablossom possesses my every waking moment again and I go off the walls feral. But if that's the case, I hope this keeps you satiated in the mean time ;]

The rest of their meal passed without incident. Mostly. 

The kicking was a common theme throughout the night, but it would come and go in waves any time their conversation grew heated enough to warrant aggression without drawing attention to themselves. 

But after some time and a few glasses of wine, their moods finally simmered down to the point where they began to have a pleasant dinner with one another. 

Contrary to popular belief, they didn’t argue all of the time when they were together. It was a common theme during the first hour or two of their meetings, but once they tired themselves out they could be quite mature and reasonable. 

Over dinner, they talked about a few topics of interest. Kaoru shared some stories about recent projects he had worked on, and the media coverage they received. Kojiro brought up some ideas he had for the next season of his restaurant’s menu. They discussed recent developments in S in quieter tones. New up and coming skaters, as well as the old ones who had shown recent improvements in their techniques. 

Finally their night began to draw to a close. They had both finished the main course of their meal, and their plates were taken away. For dessert, the two of them agreed to split a tiramisu. 

While they waited for the dessert to arrive, Kaoru decided to pull out his final surprise of the evening. The ultimate romantic gesture. The move that was sure to secure his place as the ultimate victor in their competition. 

“Before our dessert arrives, there’s something I would like to give you,” Kaoru announced. 

“Huh?” Kojiro said, genuinely surprised. “What is it?” 

Kaoru reached down under his chair, where he had stored the bag he brought with him to keep his wallet and his personal belongings. From it he brought out a slim box, wrapped tastefully with a ribbon to keep it secured. 

He sat back up, and held the box out towards his dining partner. 

“It’s a gift. To thank you for accompanying me tonight.” 

Kojiro looked at the box skeptically before he reached over the table to take it. 

He didn’t open it right away. He inspected it carefully, turning the box over in his hands to observe it from every angle. 

“This isn’t some sort of gag gift, right? Nothing’s going to jump out at me when I open it?” he asked. 

Kaoru rubbed at the bridge of his nose. 

“When have I ever attempted to pull off such a cheap trick?” 

“How about the multiple times you stuck a chalkboard eraser in doorways so it would fall on my head the second I opened it?” 

“I was an adolescent. My sense of vengeance was not as refined as it is now,” Kaoru explained. 

But still, with an exaggerated sigh, he did his best to put his friend’s worries at ease. 

“I give you my word that this isn’t a prank. There’s a physical item within the packaging, and I would prefer you open it before our tiramisu arrives at the table.” 

This seemed to ease Kojiro’s doubts. He pulled the ribbon off, and then opened the box to reveal what was inside. 

Kojiro stared at the contents of the box for a solid minute without saying anything. Kaoru gave him all the time he needed to take it in. 

“Is… this a threat?” Kojiro asked. 

“No. It’s an artisanal knife,” Kaoru explained. 

Kojiro seemed to be slow on the uptake, as per usual. Positive that he wouldn’t be able to perceive the full elegance of the gift on his own, Kaoru decided to take pity on him and patiently explain the full scale of his reasoning. 

“It was made by an acquaintance of mine, who specializes in knives for chefs. The pattern you see on the blade is due to the damascus finish, and is made up of 133 layers of micro-carbide powdered steel. It was sharpened using a traditional honbazuke honing method, so the blade will make incredibly precise cuts. Not only that, but the sharpness will last quite some time without wearing down,” he said. 

Kojiro held the box in his hands and observed the knife without taking it out. The fact that he had not interrupted yet gave Kaoru a fair amount of pride. It clearly meant he was thinking too hard about the present to come back with a witty retort. 

Excellent. And that wasn’t even the finishing blow. 

“The handle itself is made of birchwood. It’s quite intriguing, I recommend you take a closer look at it.” 

As instructed, Kojiro leaned down to inspect the handle more carefully. His eyebrows pushed together on his forehead as he found what Kaoru was trying to lead him into discovering. 

A subtle engraving on the handle. 

“.... March 2nd, Wednesday?” Kojiro asked. 

Kaoru could tell that the gears in Kojiro’s head were turning. He knew it was a significant date, but he couldn’t recall what it meant. 

Kaoru knew. It was a date he had committed to memory, entirely without meaning to. The only reason he had remembered what the date happened on a Wednesday specifically was because when he was in primary school, his mother always sent him out on errands on Wednesday afternoons before dinner. 

And March second happened to be a very specific Wednesday. When his mother had sent him out of the house with an umbrella and a tight deadline, because the forecast had predicted a heavy rainstorm. 

“That was the day I first met you,” said Kaoru. 

At this point, Kaoru had expected to feel some sort of surge of triumph. This by far was the single greatest gift he had ever given to anyone. It would have been incredibly easy to gloat over his victory if Kojiro had reacted in any of the ways he had anticipated. 

When he first came up with the idea, he thought Kojiro would groan at him for being overly sentimental. If such a thing were the case he had planned on smirking smugly at him and insisting that Kojiro had to admit it was absolutely flawless. 

He had also planned for Kojiro to try to downplay his achievement. If he said something like  _ ‘I already have knives, I don’t need more of them’ _ , Kaoru had an extensive list of why this specific knife was far better than any of the cheap utensils he currently had in his kitchen. 

But neither of those circumstances happened. For once, Kaoru found himself unable to read his friend’s expression. 

Kojiro reached down, and traced over the engraving gently with one of his fingers. 

“Kaoru…” was all he said. He spoke softly, as if the volume of his voice could shatter the knife laid out before him.

That had not been one of the reactions that Kaoru had expected to happen. 

He was now lost. And his chest felt tight. 

“You don’t have to accept it if you don’t want to. I can easily-” 

“Thank you.” 

Usually when Kojiro cut him off it invoked a sense of fury within Kaoru. Not this time. This time, Kaoru’s breath caught in his throat before he could even think of some sort of clever retort. 

He could only stare at Kojiro and beg for some synapse to fire in his mind to tell him what he was supposed to do. What he was supposed to say. For once, even that was failing him. 

And finally he had to look away. Because nothing was going to happen if he kept staring at Kojiro. 

Then a miracle happened. The waiter returned, and placed their dessert in front of them. 

The presence of a stranger was enough to snap Kojiro out of his moment of sincerity. He carefully covered the box again with the lid, and put it off to the side of the table before he thanked the waiter and picked up a clean spoon. 

“This looks good! You’d better get in on this before I eat it all on my own,” Kojiro said right before he dug his spoon into a corner of the dessert. 

Relief washed over Kaoru once again. Finally, a familiar circumstance. Something he knew how to respond to. 

He picked up his own spoon, and picked half a chunk of tiramisu off of Kojiro’s spoon when he dug into a far too generous and greedy second helping of the dessert. 

“If you weren’t intending on sharing you should have ordered your own, you glutton,” he said. 

In the end they both ate an equal portion of the dessert, without needing to battle to see who could eat more of it faster than the other one could. 

* * *

Just like that, their first date was over. 

Kaoru paid for the full bill as he had intended to. 

They returned to the car that Kaoru rented, and the two of them arrived back at Kojiro’s apartment so Kaoru could personally escort him back to his front door. 

The start of the car ride had been a bit quieter than usual for them. There was no aggressive white-knuckled hand grasping, no insults, no arguments. But by the time the calm had settled and their car made it back to Kojiro’s neighborhood, things had shifted back to a normal pace. 

They exited the car while arguing about the difference between artificial intelligence and machine learning, a topic that Kojiro was painfully uneducated on but had plenty of opinions about. 

They were still in the middle of their disagreement by the time Kojiro had his house key in the lock of his front door. And while Kaoru would have loved to school him about his ignorance for a much longer period of time, he had more important matters to attend to. So he put a hand against the bulk of the door before Kojiro could pull it open. 

“Well?” Kaoru said. 

“... Well, what?” 

“Were you not impressed by my performance this evening?” 

Kojiro rolled his eyes and took his key out of the lock. 

“Impressed by what. Going out to dinner?” 

“The food was exquisite.” 

“I could do better.” 

“The environment was immaculate.” 

“It was a bunch of string lights and ferns.” 

“I was incredibly conscientious and attentive to your needs.” 

“You kicked me in the shins and mocked me for finishing my glass of water too quickly.” 

“It was the most romantic date you’ve ever been on, and you’re too proud to admit it!” 

The two of them were back up in each other’s space, arguing face to face. 

“It wasn’t romantic at all! That date didn’t feel any different from any other time we’ve had dinner together. If that’s how you treat the people you go out with, you really need to step up your game,” said Kojiro. 

“Oh, like you could do any better,” Kaoru said, and crossed his arms over his chest. 

“I can, and I will! Are you free next Thursday night?” 

“No! I have a late appointment with a client.” 

“Fine! What about Saturday?” 

“I have no prior engagements.” 

“Then I’m taking you out on a date!” 

“Fine!” Kaoru shouted. 

“Okay!” Kojiro shouted back, finally opening the door of his apartment before he stepped inside. “And it’s my date, so I get to decide where we go and what we do! With no dress code!” 

“I’ll make sure to show up wearing a burlap sack.” 

“If that’s what makes you feel the most comfortable,  _ sweetheart _ .” 

“I’ll need to dress as comfortably as possible for whatever you have planned, I’m sure. Go to sleep already, you useless ape.” 

“Maybe I will!” 

“You should! It’s late, and you need to be at work early tomorrow!” 

Their shouting match was disturbed by the sound of furious pounding coming from one of the apartments next door to Kojiro’s, followed by an elderly voice demanding that whoever was causing a disturbance should immediately cease their actions. 

“Good night,” Kojiro growled out, careful to keep his voice lowered while still retaining the same level of animosity. 

“Good night,” Kaoru responded in kind. 

And Kojiro got as close as he could to slamming the door without adding to the disturbance they had already caused. 

* * *

Kojiro was not the sort of person who slept with a knife next to his bed. 

He was not a paranoid person. He had heard about people who kept weapons close to them when they slept in case of home intrusions, and the idea had always seemed ludicrous to him. 

But when Kojiro propped a knife up on his bedside table before he laid down to sleep that evening, it wasn’t for protection. 

It wasn’t a weapon. It wasn’t even a tool that he planned on bringing into his restaurant. 

Kaoru would question it’s absence from his professional kitchen, of course. And he’d lie, and say that he lost it, or forgot to bring it in. 

But that knife didn’t belong at work. It was too important to wear it out on a daily basis while he prepared food for other people. It was too precious. 

He would use it, of course, but only at home. Where no one could see the way he stared at it any time he brought it out, or the way he ran his fingers over the engraving to cherish that date the moment he saw it. 

Kojiro wasn’t usually a possessive person. He was fine with paying for meals for other people. He’d give the shirt off of his back for someone if they truly needed it. He’d even let fans pose with his skateboard, simply because it brought them joy and made them excited. 

But for once he had something that he didn’t want to share with anyone else. 

  
  



	5. Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy: Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE'RE BACK! 
> 
> So as I suspected, this "chapter" ended up long again and had to be separated into three parts this time. Since this happened, in order to stretch things out and not assault y'all with too much story at once, I'm trying something new! I'm going to be uploading the next 3 parts of this story one at a time, over the course of the next 3 days. An update a day, very exciting! 
> 
> Good Old Fashioned Lover boy will be the end of joe's date, but it won't be the end of the story~ ;] Where does the story go from there? Stay tuned to find out! 
> 
> Also!!! For all my twitter owning readers out there, I've decided to create a twitter account for this fic to announce updates! Check it out over on https://twitter.com/TheGamblerFic . Over there I'll be letting you know when uploads are about to come in, when new chapters are posted, as well as post occasional fun facts and visual aids to go along with the story.

_ Ooh, let me feel your heartbeat (Grow faster, faster) _

_ Ooh, ooh, can you feel my love heat? _

_ Come on and sit on my hot-seat of love _

_ And tell me how do you feel right after all _

_ I'd like for you and I to go romancing _

_ Say the word, your wish is my command _

_ Ooh, love, ooh, loverboy _

_ What're you doin' tonight, hey, boy? _

_ Set my alarm, turn on my charm _

_ That's because I'm a good old-fashioned loverboy _

_ Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy - Queen  _

* * *

Kojiro was the luckiest man in existence. 

That, or he had racked up a considerable amount of good karma and he was finally being paid back for his good deeds. 

After he had finalized the day of their second not-a-date, Kojiro had been obsessively trying to come up with an activity for the two of them to do together that would outdo the fancy dinner they shared. 

As much as he hated to admit it, dinner reservations were cliche, but they were also a classic date destination. It was hard to beat the sort of mood that could be set with dim lighting and good food. 

Kojiro had considered setting up a private dinner for the two of them at his own restaurant but scrapped the idea immediately. It was too similar to Kaoru’s date, and the man would just accuse Kojiro of copying him. On top of that, it was too similar to what they already did on a regular basis. 

This date had to be unique. Special. Somewhere he could pull off every trick in his book and demonstrate how a real Casanova operates. 

Picnics were a fine choice, but they were approaching the end of October, and most days were too cold to enjoy a full meal outside. Going to a movie would be fun, but Kojiro considered that to be more of a first or second date scenario. Best used as an icebreaker when you were worried that you might not have anything else to talk about and didn’t mind that half of your time together was spent sitting in silence. 

No. Kojiro had to do better than that. 

He had to win. 

Sure, a large part of the reason why he was so intent on coming out victorious was due to his competitive nature. It didn’t matter what the contest was. If Kojiro was faced with a challenge, he wanted to come out on top. Even if he didn’t end up winning in the end, the thrill of the struggle still left him satisfied and hungry for another chance to improve and exceed his previous limitations. 

But tied up in those feelings of glory seeking was the need to show Kaoru that he wasn’t just some sleazy playboy. 

He knew that a good portion of the insults Kaoru flung at him were empty in nature. That was the game they played together. Kaoru would call him an idiot and accuse him of being utterly useless, and Kojiro would fire back comments about Kaoru being a pompous stick in the mud. No matter what they said about one another, their words were never weaponized to cause actual pain. 

Their conversations were their own secret language, with a cipher that only the two of them knew how to read. 

But even with that cipher, Kojiro had the feeling that Kaoru did not see him as a romantic person. He couldn’t blame his friend for that point of view. Kaoru had brought up a good point in their discussions. For all the years they had known one another, Kojiro had dated plenty of women, and his all time record for consecutive dates with the same person had been around 5 or 6. 

It wasn’t due to a lack of effort. 

He liked dating. He liked women. He liked the feeling of being desired, of being depended on. Any time he went out with someone he met, he held a genuine interest in her. So he’d go on a few dates, talk with her, and woo her. 

And then the guilt started to settle in. Because no matter what, the person he was with would start falling harder for him. He’d be able to tell by her soft smiles, the way she’d open up more about her personal life, the endearing looks he received when he did something he hadn’t even considered to be attractive or desirable. 

Every time it started happening, Kojiro waited desperately for the moment when he’d start feeling the same way. He went over every interaction with a fine toothed comb, looking for something that made him feel like there was hope for falling in love on the horizon. 

Every time, no matter how hard he tried, he came up empty. 

So he did the kindest thing he could think to do. He started coming up with excuses about why he was busy with personal matters in life, started postponing dates, sent less text messages, and slowly phased out of her life. 

Most of the time, this plan worked just fine. His dates had busy lives of their own, and didn’t have the time to chase after a man who wouldn’t make time for them, no matter how attractive he was. Sometimes the plan didn’t work as smoothly as he hoped, and the women he dated would confront him about it with frustration or anger. Any time this happened he let them take out whatever negative feelings they had on him with no complaint or retaliation. Because they were right. It was his fault, and he accepted full responsibility for that. 

Kojiro didn’t want to be the sort of person who left a trail of broken hearts behind him. So as the years passed, his encounters with women had become increasingly more casual. No strings attached, no promises. Just two people sharing a pleasant moment together as their paths crossed for a brief period of time. 

Kojiro could see why his behavior could come across as him not taking dating seriously. But he did, and he had to prove that to Kaoru more than anyone else. 

So Kojiro worked tirelessly to try to find the hidden key that would give him that edge. He poured through articles with unique ideas for dates, wrote long lists of options any time he finished closing the restaurant for the evening, spent hours in his apartment staring at a wall while he waited for inspiration to strike. 

And then one day it hit him. 

Literally. 

He had just parked his motorcycle next to his restaurant one morning and was rounding the corner to get to the front door when a sudden gust of wind sent a stray piece of paper flying into his face. 

He cursed, and reached up to swipe the page away. He had been about to crumple it up in frustration and find the closest trash can to dispose of it when he saw the contents on the flier. 

It was an advertisement for a local festival, scheduled to take place that Saturday. 

A matsuri. Placed directly in his lap, like a gift from heaven. 

It was perfect. It was like the ultimate gauntlet of an ideal date. It combined food, music, good scenery, and plenty of opportunities for moments to be close to your loved one. Kojiro could take everything that had happened on their dinner date, and add even more hours of enjoyment to it. 

He nearly ran the rest of the way inside to the restaurant, and brought out his phone so he could alert Kaoru of their plan for the evening right away. 

Kojiro was truly the luckiest man alive. He’d struck gold and managed to find a dating activity that didn’t require an ounce of planning. And even that stubborn, prudent, grouchy friend of his wasn’t going to be able to resist Kojiro in his element. 

* * *

When Kojiro arrived at Kaoru’s home to pick him up for their date, he texted upon his arrival instead of going to meet him at the front door. 

It was very important to make a strong first impression right from the start, and Kojiro knew exactly what opening move he wanted to set up. He positioned himself on his motorcycle with one foot placed casually on the ground and dropped his jacket off his shoulders ever so slightly. He checked his hair in the rearview mirror quickly, touched it up to the perfect level of effortlessly tousled, and gave himself a little wink and a thumbs up for extra motivation. 

Kojiro could see Kaoru starting to round a corner, and the game was on. 

He leaned back a bit on his seat, and pulled out an opening gift he had kept safely in one of the top pockets of his jacket. It was a single red camellia flower, picked up fresh from a greenhouse on his way over. Kojiro thought that Kaoru would like that, a single bloom instead of a full bouquet. Subtle, while still getting the point across. 

“Good evening, Kaoru~. You look…” Kojiro started, but trailed off once he got a proper look at the other man. “... Wow.” 

Kojiro had intended to start with a compliment about Kaoru looking nice no matter what he had chosen to wear for the evening, but found that he didn’t have to engineer a reaction. 

Kaoru looked incredible. He was dressed in the same more traditional style that Kojiro was used to seeing him in, but those robes tended to be solid colors or simple patterns without much flair to them. Tonight he was dressed in a men’s kimono that Kojiro was sure he had never seen on him before, patterned with a mix of cranes of flowering branches. His hair was done up neatly instead of tucked to the side in his usual loose ponytail, with a few strands left loose that delicately framed the edges of his face. 

Kojiro could have stared at him for hours without saying a word, just drinking the sight of him in. 

And Kaoru looked about as unimpressed as he ever did. 

He observed the motorcycle, Kojiro, and then the flower that was held out in his direction. 

“... what am I supposed to do with that?” he asked. 

Just like that, the magic was gone. 

“The same thing you do with any gift, whatever you want I guess. Maybe put it in your hair?” Kojiro suggested. That’s what a few of the girls he had dated had done when he’d tried this out before. “It would look nice with your kimono…” 

Kaoru thought about it for a moment, and then picked the flower out of Kojiro’s hand. He inspected it carefully. 

“A red camellia?” he asked. 

Kojiro nodded. 

“Ah. A noble death. How thoughtful of you.” 

Kojiro’s eyebrow twitched. 

“They can also mean ‘love’, you know.” 

“If you wanted a flower that held that meaning without risking misinterpretation you might have chosen a freesia, or a carnation. A rose would have sufficed as well, if you wanted to be traditional about it,” Kaoru said. 

“Well, damn. Sue me for trying to be a little creative,” Kojiro said. 

It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered getting a rose. He had thought about it, and threw the idea out the window just as quickly. 

No matter what happened in their lives, whether it was for a joke or for sincere purposes, Kojiro decided he would never give Kaoru roses. It reminded him too much of ADAM. 

“My lawyers will be in touch,” Kaoru responded. 

Just then, Kaoru made his decision of what he wanted to do with the flower. He reached into his bag, and pulled out what appeared to be a medium sized sketchbook. Just when Kojiro was about to ask what he was doing, Kaoru snapped the stem off of the flower. He opened the book, placed the flower carefully on one of the pages, then closed over the flower while applying heavy pressure to the front and back cover. 

Kojiro rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Jeez, you could have just told me you hated it. No need to get violent about it,” he said. 

“It would have been crushed one way or another on our date, or wilted and died if I put it in a vase at home. Camellias don’t live for long after you pick them. I’m preserving it,” Kaoru explained. 

Kojiro supposed that was a bit less painful than Kaoru rejecting the flower outright, even if it wasn’t the reaction he had been hoping for. 

“... hey. What are you doing, bringing a book with you on a date?” Kojiro asked. 

“It’s a sketchbook. One never knows when inspiration will strike.” 

“So you’re already planning on getting bored?” 

“I’ve prepared for that, and several other possible outcomes.” 

Kojiro couldn’t wait to prove him wrong. Kaoru might have thought that his flippant attitude would throw Kojiro off of his game, but it was only making him even more determined to show off. 

“Well, you’d better be prepared for the best night of your life!” he announced. He settled himself back properly on his motorcycle, and patted the seat behind him. “Need help getting on?” 

Kaoru shot him a glare, then moved over and sat on the second seat. 

It wasn’t the first time the two of them had been on a motorcycle together. While Kaoru had a car, he preferred riding his AI-infused motorcycle as transportation to S races. Kojiro only had the one motorcycle. There were occasional times when they’d give each other a lift. While it had always made Kojiro a bit excited to be close to Kaoru, it had never come across as anything more than platonic. 

All that was about to change. 

As expected, after Kaoru sat down on the motorcycle, he placed his hands on Kojiro’s shoulders as he normally did to stay secured. It created a little more space between them, while ensuring stability. 

“Hey, what are you being so shy for?” Kojiro asked, slipping into the charming melodious tone he saved for when he was trying to woo someone. He reached back over his shoulders and gently held Kaoru’s hands. Then he guided them down, until Kaoru’s arms were wrapped around his midsection, hands placed over his stomach. “I don’t bite~” 

“Carla. Tell Kojiro how many times he has bitten me.” 

“Kojiro-san has bitten Master a total of 6 times over the past 15 years,” came Carla’s voice, from the glowing pink bracelet around one of his wrists. 

“Thank you, Carla.”

“Most of that happened when we were kids! And why the hell are you keeping a count of that?” Kojiro complained.

“I’ve been working on a full incident report to catalogue all my grievances against you. As you can see, it’s already proven to be useful.” 

“Two can play at that game! Carla, tell Kaoru how many times  _ he _ has bitten me.” 

“Information unavailable.” 

Kojiro didn’t have to see behind him to know that Kaoru was smirking triumphantly. Bastard. 

Kojiro turned the keys in the ignition and started the motorcycle up. 

“Whatever. You comfortable back there?” he asked. 

“About as comfortable as one can be while holding onto someone with the density of a slab of concrete.” 

“Yeah, well. Try not to let your wimpy limp-noodle arms give out on you. If you fall off, I’m not going back for you,” said Kojiro. 

He put pressure on the gas, and the two of them took off into the night to head for the festival. 

* * *

Kojiro wasn’t starting the date feeling as confident as he had expected. 

The flower hadn’t hit as hard as he wanted it to. Riding with Kaoru pressed closer to him than usual had been nice, but the bulk of his jacket had created too thick of a barrier between them to feel much else besides the pressure of Kaoru against his back and around his waist. When he had initially envisioned it, he had thought about feeling Kaoru’s warmth, his heartbeat, his breath ghosting over the hairs on the back of his neck. None of that had happened in practice, and Kojiro was too focused on driving safely to enjoy the feeling of Kaoru’s arms around him. 

But that was only the start of their date. He still had plenty of tricks stashed away, and knew that the opportunity to bust one of those out was going to happen very soon. 

The best part about going on a date outdoors during the fall at night was the temperature. 

The air was chilly. Not cold enough to set a hard time limit on how long they could stay out together, but definitely low enough to have an affect. 

Kojiro didn’t mind the temperature at all. His body heat always tended to be on the warm side, so nights like this were more than comfortable for him. 

He knew for a fact that Kaoru was very sensitive to changes in temperature. He’d often complain about it when Kojiro’s restaurant had the thermostat set too low, and often relied on cold refreshments to help cool off when the air became too hot during the summer. 

Kaoru was going to start getting cold at some point in the night. That was a given. It was for this exact purpose that Kojiro had worn a thicker jacket for their date. Because when that inevitably happened, Kojiro was going to sweep in with the ultimate chivalrous move: giving Kaoru his jacket to help him warm up again. 

In Kojiro’s mind, that was the epitome of romance. It was sacrificing your own comfort for the needs of your significant other. Showing that you cared about their health and their happiness. It was just the right amount of possessive without being controlling. It was like a wedding ring, a clear physical indicator that your partner was loved and being taken care of, without the pressure of being legally bound together. 

Kojiro was so excited about his chance to show off he could hardly wait. After they parked his motorcycle at the festival and got off of the seats, he couldn’t stop himself from checking in. 

“Here we are! How are you feeling? That didn’t get too windy for you, did it?” Kojiro asked, carefully inspecting Kaoru for any signs of chills. 

“I’m fine,” is all Kaoru said in response. 

“You sure?” 

Kaoru let out an impatient sigh. 

“Yes. In spite of that tight corner you took by the convenience store that nearly caused an accident, I am  _ fine _ .” 

Kojiro rolled his eyes. 

“It wasn’t that tight of a turn. You’re just looking for things to complain about,” he said. 

They hadn’t been travelling fast at all. They’d sped through backroads while riding together often, sometimes just for the thrill of it. Even while riding at a safe speed however, Kojiro noticed that the wind had blown Kaoru’s hair around until it settled in a way that Kojiro knew the other man wouldn’t like. 

He reached up without thinking, and gently combed his fingers over Kaoru’s bangs to help set them back in their proper place. 

Kojiro’s hand stopped moving when his fingers got to the side of Kaoru’s face, just before he was about to push a strand of hair behind one of his ears. He had been so focused on his work, he didn’t realize how intensely Kaoru had started to stare at him. His eyes were sharp. Calculating. Kojiro felt like he was being picked apart and analyzed. 

When Kojiro only looked back at him in confusion, Kaoru decided to speak up. 

“So. This is how you do it?” he asked. 

“How… I do what?” Kojiro asked, still feeling lost. 

“How you get all of those women to fall in love with you so quickly. You initiate constant physical contact. I suppose it’s meant to invoke the sensation of feeling desired.” 

Kojiro frowned and brought his hand back into his own space. 

“It’s not  _ meant _ to do anything. I mean… yeah. I’m doing it right now to prove a point, but when I’m on a real date it's just something I do because I like it. I don’t plan things out, because I don’t have a personal agenda beyond wanting to have a good time,” he said. 

Kojiro felt a bit hurt. His suspicions that Kaoru didn’t see him as anything more than a playboy that manipulated women into spending time with him were starting to gain more traction. He had hoped that seeing it in action would somehow convince Kaoru that Kojiro wasn’t that sort of person. 

“If it makes you uncomfortable, I’ll cut it out.” 

Kaoru didn’t respond at first. At a certain point, the silence had dragged on long enough for Kojiro to take it as an affirmative answer. He was just about to commit to giving Kaoru his personal space for the rest of the night, when he felt an arm slide around his own. 

His eyes snapped back to Kaoru, then down to Kaoru’s arm hooked around his elbow. 

“It doesn’t make me feel uncomfortable. I’m simply trying to make observations about your conduct in order to compare your mannerisms against my own. You are welcome to initiate as much contact with me as you see fit,” he said. 

Kojiro’s heart fluttered, and some of his hope returned to him. 

"You sure? And you won't complain about it?" he asked. 

"Oh. I'll definitely complain about it. However, I shall endure as much of it as I am forced to under these circumstances. It wouldn't be a fair competition otherwise." 

"Just admit you like being around me already, you prick." 

"Never."

Thus the two of them headed off into the festival, arm in arm, bickering their way through the crowds. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHAT COULD HAPPEN NEXT?! Will Joe managed to impress Cherry during their date? What other tricks does joe have up his sleeves? Will Cherry have a moment of weakness and put on the damn jacket? The answers are coming at you in the next chapter!! 
> 
> Additional post note because I know I didn't know this before research: 
> 
> I used to think that kimonos for specifically for women in japan, and yukata were for men. Such is not the case! The difference between yukata and kimono come from the style of the collar and the shapes of the sleeves, and are not specifically gendered. Kimono tend to have more material, and are warmer, so I determined that while we normally see Cherry in a yukata, he'd definitely be wearing a kimono in this instance. If I am wrong, feel free to correct me! 
> 
> Thanks again for reading, see y'all soon!


	6. Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy: Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, today is part two of Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy! :]
> 
> The word of the day is suppress: as in "it's very hard to demonstrate how Cherry is truly affected by Joe's attempts at flirting when not in Cherry's POV because he SUPPRESSES all of his emotions for the love of god man can you please allow yourself to open up a bit" (Don't worry that will DEFINITELY change in later chapters. hurr hurr hurr.) 
> 
> Once again, if you're a twitter addict like me, I've made an account to announce updates! https://twitter.com/thegamblerfic

The best part about taking a date to a festival was that there were no shortage of fun things to do. 

Most of the time dates centered around one singular activity. Dinner dates were about eating a meal, and discussing its quality while enjoying the scenery. Hikes were dedicated to enjoying nature. But during a festival, there was an endless parade of entertainment. 

There was music for them to stop and enjoy. Food stalls full of snacks and warm drinks to keep them going. Plenty of colorful banners, and artwork, and beauty all around them to admire. 

Of all of the things to do at a festival, there was one guaranteed show-stopper. Kojiro waited a bit before he started to seek out the opportunity, allowed a bit of build up before he prepared to make his move. They had some drinks together, looked through some stands owned by local artists, and picked up some paper fortunes from the o-mikuji stalls owned by a one of the local shrines. 

The two of them made their offerings, received their randomized fortunes, and unrolled the small strips of paper at the same time. 

Kojiro threw a fist up in the air right away. 

"Yes!! Dai-kichi!" he exclaimed triumphantly. "That's the best one, right? A great blessing? There's no way you pulled one that good~" he taunted, waving it next to Kaoru's face.

Kaoru frowned, and caught hold of Kojiro's wrist so he could inspect the rest of the fortune. 

"A person being waited for. Have you been waiting for someone?" he asked. 

"Huh?" Kojiro asked. He had been so excited about his small victory, he had completely forgotten to read the second half of his fortune. He pulled it back to his own field of vision and read it for himself, racking his mind to come up with a potential explanation. 

"... I honestly don't know. Maybe someone owes me money and I forgot about it?" 

"I highly doubt that. You remind me of the debts I owe to you any time I eat at your restaurant." 

"Yeah, because you swindle your way into getting free meals every other day," said Kojiro. "What about you? What does yours say?" 

Kaoru inspected his own fortune one more time, then folded the strip of paper over on itself. 

"It's nothing." 

"What? Did you get a curse or something?" Kojiro asked. 

"It wasn't a curse. It was just... nonsensical. A half blessing for moving or changing residences." 

"Woah. You're seriously thinking about moving? Where? Across town?" 

"Do you listen when I talk to you? I said it didn't make sense. My living space is connected to my studio, there's absolutely no reason for me to move." 

"It'd be easier to follow along with that you're saying if you didn't speak like you're reading an instruction manual all the time." 

"Maybe it would be easier for you to understand me if you didn't have the intelligence quotient of a pile of bricks." 

And then they argued about the merits and disadvantages of using grandiose vocabulary in casual conversation for the next half an hour. 

After both of them were comfortably settled into the mood of the fair, full from their last stop at a food stall, and Kojiro was ready to show off. He didn’t have to wait long after that to find what he was looking for. 

“Ah! Kaoru, wait,” Kojiro said. He stopped Kaoru by gently holding onto his arm, turning the man around until he faced what Kojiro wanted him to look at. 

With a sly grin, Kojiro pointed at the stall and asked “Do you see that?” 

“It’s… a carnival game,” Kaoru said. 

“Exactly.”

To be specific, it was a throwing game. It had a row of various metal milk bottles all lined up, with a menagerie of prizes hung around the perimeter of the stall. 

“Pick out any prize you want! I’ll get it for you,” said Kojiro. 

Kaoru inspected the array of available prizes carefully, before he responded. 

“They’re all stuffed animals.” 

“Yeah? So?” 

“I have no use for a stuffed animal.” 

“They’re not supposed to be useful. It’s just something you put somewhere in your room so it reminds you of the fun night you had, and how talented your partner is,” said Kojiro. 

Kaoru sighed, but relented. He looked back to the stall and searched through the options, eventually pointing to a rather large tiger hung from a hook towards the back of the tent. 

“That one.” 

Of course he chose one of the larger prizes. There was no doubt that it was one of the grand prizes, and had to be one of the hardest ones to win. 

Kojiro was glad he picked it. That was a tough challenge, and the difficulty level made him all the more determined to succeed. 

He grinned confidently, and gave Kaoru a wink and a thumbs up. 

“Leave it to me!” he said, before he rolled up his sleeves and approached the stall. 

He took out the appropriate amount of money and gave it to the clerk, and in return was given three balls to use as ammo. He picked one of them up, testing the weight in his hand while he thought about what sort of strategy he would go for. The safest bet would be to aim for the top half of the bottom row of bottles, in case the bottoms of the bottles were weighted. 

This victory was going to be extremely satisfying. Kojiro knew it. He envisioned himself knocking down the bottles in one go, and getting the giant tiger handed off to him. Then he'd present it to Kaoru, who would definitely look absolutely livid at first. But even Kaoru wouldn't be able to resist being awed by Kojiro's incredible skill. Maybe his eyes would even shine a bit with admiration and wonder. 

Well. Okay. That was stretching the personal fantasy a bit. But Kaoru would definitely be impressed. Maybe impressed enough to begrudgingly admit that Kojiro wasn't just all talk and no action. That would be satisfying enough. 

Just when he was about to wind back and tell Kaoru to watch a real pro at work, he heard a voice speak up from beside him. 

“I’ll be competing against him,” Kaoru said as he put his own money down on the table. 

Kojiro’s eyebrows shot up, snapping his head to the side to see Kaoru speaking with the clerk. 

“Oh… it’s… not really a competitive game,” the clerk explained, even as she took his money and gave him three baseballs. “Both of you can win a prize if you knock the bottles down.” 

“But whoever knocks their bottles down first will have first pick of the prizes available, yes?” Kaoru asked. The clerk nodded, and Kaoru smirked aside at Kojiro. 

“Then perhaps I’ll win the tiger for myself.” 

Well. That was a plot twist. 

All of the times he had done this in the past, the women he had been trying to win a prize for had acted as his personal cheering section. No one had ever had the audacity to slide in next to him and try to challenge him for his heroic moment.

It ought to have made him angry. Instead, that small rumble of adrenaline inside of him kicked up to a throbbing buzz. 

“Oh. So that’s how it’s going to be, huh?” said Kojiro. He tossed the ball back and forth between his hands a few times, and grinned back at him. “Just promise me you won’t cry when I beat you to it.” 

“If you can promise not to sulk for the rest of the evening after I humiliate you publicly,” Kaoru responded. He reached down to his electronic bracelet and snapped off a small square piece, then placed what appeared to be a small earbud in his ear. 

“Carla. Calculate the distance between the milk bottles and the counter.” 

“Hey!” Kojiro shouted, and shook a fist at Kaoru. “That’s cheating! Leave your crappy robot out of this!” 

“You don’t see me complaining about the unfair advantage that the gargantuan piles of meat on your arms give you. Stop yelling and concentrate on your own target.” 

Kojiro grumbled, but focused back on the cartons in front of him. 

Fine. He’d let Kaoru have his fun and tag team with Carla. Kojiro was confident he’d still come out victorious, even without the extra help. 

The two of them prepared their stances besides one another. 

“One…” said Kaoru. 

“Two…” said Kojiro. 

“Three!” they shouted together, and tossed their balls. 

Of the 6 bottles stacked up, Kaoru managed to knock down three. Kojiro’s ball swung a bit too high up, and only managed to topple down the top one. 

Kojiro growled with frustration, picking up the second ball as he heard Kaoru puff out a short laugh. 

“You may want to try aiming next time. You’ll have much better results,” Kaoru said. 

“You might want to try shutting the hell up before I start ‘aiming’ at your face,” said Kojiro. 

The two picked up their second balls, and prepared to launch their throws once more. 

They counted down and threw at the same time. 

Kaoru managed to knock over another two bottles. The final bottle tottered on the table, before it settled back into its upright position. 

Kojiro’s, on the other hand, managed to land the perfect strike. It catapulted into the central bottle on the bottom row, and blew away all the others with it. 

Kojiro raised his arms in the air, and let out a whoop of victory. 

“That’s what I’m talking about!” he shouted. He turned to Kaoru with a shit eating grin. “Better luck next time, spaghetti arms~” he said, and lightly pinched one of his arms through the fabric of his kimono. 

Kaoru slapped his hand away with a glare. “This game is rigged. The density of the final bottle was much higher than the contents of the other bottles.” 

“Oh? Is it rigged? And yet _somehow_ I still managed to win.” 

The two of them were distracted for a short amount of time, with Kojiro pinching Kaoru on various parts of his arms and shoulders as Kaoru smacked his hands off, before they remembered the poor clerk standing by with nothing to do besides watch them as she waited for Kojiro to pick a prize. 

Kojiro turned back to her, and triumphantly pointed to the large stuffed tiger. 

“Give this man the tiger!” he said. 

The clerk frowned nervously, and bowed her head slightly. 

“I’m so sorry… that’s one of the grand prizes. You need to knock the bottles down on your first try to get it, or trade in three medium prizes,” she explained sheepishly. 

Well, that took the wind right out of his sails. 

“Oh…ah. Okay. So… what prizes can we choose from?” 

Kaoru ended up with a much smaller stuffed tiger that fit in the palm of his hand. 

He held it up for both of them to observe. 

“Very impressive,” he noted dryly. 

“It’s still better than you managed to do on your own,” Kojiro scoffed.

Kaoru ignored Kojiro’s gloating. His eyes began to roam over the crowd, seeking something else out. 

“... Did you want to get more food? Or tea? If you’re cold we can-” 

Kaoru suddenly pointed across the venue. 

“Shooting.” 

“... huh?” 

Kaoru reached up and held onto Kojiro’s jaw, forcibly turning his face to look in the direction Kaoru was pointing at. 

It was another carnival game, with another array of cheap prizes available to be won. Instead of a throwing game, this one had a line of rifles that shot out corks at the available targets. 

“Oh. I see. Not done getting your ass handed to you, huh?” said Kojiro. 

“Anyone can throw a baseball at some metal cans. Shateki is a game with a much higher difficulty level that relies entirely on skill instead of brute forcing your way through it,” said Kaoru. He grabbed onto Kojiro’s arm, and began to pull him in the direction of the stall.

Kojiro allowed himself to be dragged along. 

“Bring it on! I’ll school you at every one of the games they have here!” 

After 2 hours the two of them had played almost every game that the festival had available, and had spent a very irresponsible amount of money winning prizes for one another. 

By the end of it both of them had their arms overflowing with a variety of stuffed animals and useless trinkets. 

Kojiro did his best to peek out from behind one of the larger bears in his arms to smile sheepishly at Kaoru. 

“We should probably drop some of this off at my motorcycle, huh?” he asked. 

“I doubt that even half of this would sit within the storage under the seats. This was very poorly planned out on your part,” said Kaoru. 

“On _my_ part? You’re the one who kept challenging me to the ring toss until we cleaned out half the prizes because you wanted to beat me so badly.” 

“And we could have stopped there, but you insisted on a rematch at super ball scooping. Which is a _children’s_ game. You had no excuse for how quickly you tore through the rice paper on your poi.” 

“It was faulty paper! And you didn’t want to do goldfish scooping!” 

“Goldfish are live animals. And as I _told_ you, keeping fish as pets requires keeping them in an appropriately sized tank. Not only that, you need to keep a cycle of water going for weeks while you monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels before you can introduce fish into the environment.”

Kojiro had been about to shoot back a retort when he noticed something from the corner of his eye. He turned to look, and found a group of children staring openly at them, their attention drawn by the men’s loud antics and the sizeable hoard of toys they were both carrying. 

He elbowed Kaoru subtly to draw his attention to the youngsters. Once Kaoru took notice and stopped glaring, Kojiro made a split second decision. 

He couldn’t wave at the group, so he simply moved the prizes around in his arms until they could see the friendly smile on his face. 

“Hey!” he called out, and approached until he was a few steps away. He knelt down on the ground so he could be closer to their eye level. Some of the children in the group seemed intimidated by being recognized by a stranger, so he took care to speak as softly as possible. 

“So, uh. Could you help me out with something? My friend and I have been playing a bunch of games for fun, but this is way too much stuff for me to take home. I don’t really need all of this. Want to take it off my hands for me?” he asked them. 

His smile grew at the collective excited gasps they let out. With no hesitation they began to swarm around, claiming the toys and trinkets one by one until Kojiro’s arms were left empty once again. Half of them were so ecstatic about the free prizes that they didn’t thank him, but Kojiro took no offense to it. Seeing the group running around comparing their claims and delighting in their fortune was rewarding all on its own. 

He stood back up after the last of the prizes had been unloaded, and waved the group off as they all dashed away into the crowd. 

“There!” he said triumphantly. Then as an afterthought, he looked sheepishly back at Kaoru. 

“I hope you don’t mind me giving all that away, seeing as you won it for m- oh.” he started, then cut himself off when he saw that Kaoru’s arms were also emptied. 

“... that was very noble of you,” Kaoru mused. 

He had a strange look on his face. One that Kojiro didn't see very often. It was like the sun, placed directly behind the corner of a thick cloud on an overcast day. You knew that something was there, could see the slightest ring of light threatening to move out into a clear patch of sky, and yet the full force of it's rays remained hidden away. 

Kojiro rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Yeah well… we really couldn’t have carried all of that around for the rest of the night. It would have just sat in the corner of my room anyhow. What about you, though? I’m surprised you joined in! You hate sharing,” he said. 

“I am an incredibly generous person when it comes to those who are worthy of my generosity. I don’t like sharing with you because you take it for granted.” 

“No way! You’re totally stingy. You just couldn’t let me show you up and look like the better person,” said Kojiro. 

“Ah. So you admit your act of charity was merely a vain attempt to come across as chivalrous.” 

“That’s not what I said at all! I-... ugh. Nevermind,” Kojiro said, finally deciding to drop the topic. There was no use arguing with Kaoru about it, especially since it wasn’t an argument Kojiro cared about winning. 

Just then, a problem came up. 

Kojiro had turned himself away from Kaoru for only a moment when he spotted it. 

It seemed that his giant armful of toys had gained attention from more than a small gaggle of children. 

Just a few meters away were a pair of young women. Absolutely gorgeous women, who had seen his kind deed and were now staring openly at him, talking in hushed tones to one another and giggling behind their hands. 

Kojiro knew that look. They were impressed. Not only that, but didn’t lose interest upon seeing the face attached to him. 

Kojiro smiled broadly on instinct, and was about to raise a hand to wave to them. 

Normally in scenarios like this, he’d go over and talk to them right away. He’d introduce himself, which would most likely turn into a longer conversation, which would turn into him spending the rest of the evening with one or both of them. It would be fun, and exciting, and he’d have piles of attention and admiration heaped upon him. 

Then reality came crashing back down on him, and he remembered he wasn’t alone. 

He was technically on a date. With a cantankerous pink-haired man who had absolutely no interest in Kojiro at the moment beyond proving how incompetant he was as a romantic partner. 

It pained him. Truly, deeply pained him to let this perfect opportunity pass him by. But it also hadn’t been the first time he passed up a beautiful face for Kaoru’s sake. Any time they happened to be at the same place together he felt no qualms about leaving to pursue other interests. But no matter what, his friendship was always more important than women. Even if he had a moment of weakness and left for a few minutes to flirt a bit, he’d always end up back with Kaoru before he left him on his own for too long. 

This time, he didn’t even leave to go flirt. With a heavy heart he waved politely, then turned his back on the women to look back at Kaoru. 

Kaoru. Who was looking up at him with an accusatory stare. 

“What,” Kojiro asked. 

“Those women seem interested in you. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather go off and drool over them?” 

“That’d be pretty rude of me, wouldn’t it?” 

“It hasn’t stopped you before.” 

“We haven’t been on a date before, idiot,” Kojiro grumbled. “I wouldn’t do something like that on a real date, so my hands are tied.” 

Kaoru clicked his tongue. 

“How unfortunate for you.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up.” 

Kojiro couldn't help himself. He peeked over his shoulder again to see if the girls were still there. 

They were. 

But no. _No_. Kojiro was strong. He had self control. He wasn’t easily distracted, no matter what Kaoru said. 

Strong. Cool. Very cool, proper gentleman. Who doesn’t flirt with other women on dates, real or fake. 

Kojiro was determined. He was keeping his mind on track. And he was far too distracted to see the subtle glare that Kaoru threw at the women from behind his back, or notice how Kaoru pressed in closer to Kojiro's side. 

“What about you? Are you cold yet or what?” Kojiro asked, changing topics. 

Kaoru narrowed his eyes at him. 

“Why do you keep asking me that?” he asked.

“Because! The temperature’s been dropping. You’re always complaining about being cold when you’re not somewhere that’s perfectly room temperature. I’m trying to make sure you’re comfortable, jerk.” 

“And you thought that I wouldn’t have Carla check the forecast for the night and dress appropriately for the expected drop in temperature?” 

“I don’t know! The forecast isn’t always predictable. Maybe it dropped more than you were expecting it to?” Kojiro asked, starting to get exasperated. 

Kaoru thought for a few moments, before he gave Kojiro a mirthful smile. 

“You know what? You’re right. I am starting to feel a bit of a chill,” he said. 

Kojiro had a singular moment of triumph. This was it. Finally. His moment to shine. 

He started to shrug his jacket down over his shoulders. 

At the same time, Kaoru reached into his bag. 

Before Kojiro could pull his jacket off, Kaoru pulled out a scarf and wrapped it around his neck. 

“There. Much better.” 

Kojiro stared at Kaoru, dumbfounded. 

“Are _you_ starting to feel cold?” Kaoru asked innocently, and motioned to his bag. “I have a second scarf, if you need it.” 

Kojiro had been intercepted. Outmatched by Kaoru’s insufferable stubbornness. 

The only thing he could do was pull his jacket back up over his shoulders, and try his hardest not to pout woefully at the missed opportunity. 

“I’m fine,” Kojiro grumbled out. 

Whatever. He still had one last opportunity to prove himself for the night. 

“You’re not tired yet, right? There’s one more thing I want to check out before we go home,” said Kojiro. 

“I believe I have enough energy to accompany you for one final event,” Kaoru said pleasantly. “What did you have in mind?” 

Kojiro pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, at the lake behind them. 

“They have boat rentals. Apparently you can buy a floating lamp and bring it with you. Everyone’s going to set them out on the water. Does that sound sophisticated enough for you, your highness?” 

“As long as you don’t suddenly feel the need to throw me in the water, it sounds pleasant enough,” said Kaoru. 

“As long as you keep your cocky attitude in check, I’m sure I won’t have any reason you launch you into the lake.” 

“I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.” 

The two of them continued to bicker on their way to the boat rental shack. 

And though the final trick of the night had been pulled from Kaoru’s bag, one more secret remained inside that he did not intend on removing until he was safely home, out of view from anyone else. 

Kojiro had been correct in his previous assumption. Kaoru was not nearly as generous as his friend was. Forfeiting the prizes they had won together to the group of children had been easy for Kaoru, because none of the toys held any real value to him. There was only one item that he had managed to sneak away into his bag before any of the children could see it and lay claim to it. 

That item was one palm sized stuffed tiger, with a small paper fortune tucked into its polyester collar. 

Dai-kichi negaigoto. 

A great blessing for one's wish or desire. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it for part two! The big finale of Joe's date is getting posted tomorrow! ;] But as promised, it's not the end. We're only about to hit the exact middle of the plot of this fic! We're still ending the build up right now, it's about to get REAL cheesy and fluffy at the turning point~ 
> 
> On another note, thank you all for your kind comments and wonderful feedback!!!! TToTT I literally read through all of them every time I'm on break at work at my night job, and it literally gets me through the night! I'm so happy that other people are enjoying this work, I'm so grateful!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading my work! 
> 
> I love hearing your comments, and they do influence how my structure my stories and how the plot develops! So feel free to drop in anything you're dying to see, theories about where the plot might be going, or just things you enjoyed that you'd like to see more of! :]


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